Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. The Kitchen House (2010) sets up James’s backstory. If you read the first book, how did your prior knowledge shape your experience of Glory over Everything? If you came to this book as a standalone, did you feel you had enough information to understand his motivations?

2. What was your initial reaction to Jamie’s decision to pass as white? Did your feelings about his choice change over the course of the novel?

3. The novel is full of intense, dramatic moments. Which scene or sequence was the most powerful for you, and why do you think it stayed with you?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Loyalty is a driving force in the novel, compelling James to risk everything for Pan. Have you ever felt a similar sense of obligation to someone who wasn’t biological family?

2. James finds solace in art and in nature. Where do you turn for refuge when the world seems threatening or complicated?

3. After his ordeal in the swamp, James finally reveals his deepest secrets to Pan. Do you think that true connection only happens after we reveal our most hidden selves? Why or why not?

4. Consider the role the Spencers play in the book’s later chapters. Have you ever found an ally in an unexpected place? What was that experience like?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Did the story’s depiction of Pan’s abduction challenge or change your understanding of the supposed safety of the North for Black people during this time?

2. Racial passing has been a complex survival strategy in America. How does this novel add to a conversation about passing’s costs and benefits? In what ways is this discussion still relevant today?

3. The maroon community in the Great Dismal Swamp represents a society created outside the bounds of slavery. What does the existence of this community suggest about resistance and the possibility of self-governance for those who liberated themselves? Do narratives such as these receive sufficient attention in discussions of antebellum America?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. The narrative structure shifts between the perspectives of James, Pan, Sukey, and Caroline. Why do you think Kathleen Grissom chose this structure?

2. What role does Malcolm play in the novel? How do you understand him in light of the broader bird motif?

3. How does Robert’s acceptance of his own biracial heritage contrast with James’s tortured struggle with his identity?

4. Physical marks of violence, like Henry’s thumbs and Sukey’s tongue, appear throughout the novel. Did you find the descriptions of these scars effective in conveying slavery’s brutality? Why or why not?

5. The theme of racial passing in this novel has echoes in other literary works. How does James’s experience of passing compare to the characters’ motivations in a novel like Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929)? What different aspects of the passing experience do the two books explore?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. At the end of the book, James decides to adopt Pan and Kitty, creating a new, multiracial family. What challenges and joys do you imagine they would face in Philadelphia society in the years that followed?

2. Imagine that you are tasked with creating an exhibit for the Peale Museum based on James’s life and journey. What objects, documents, and art would you include to tell the full story of Jamie Pyke and James Burton?

3. The novel ends with James committing to the abolitionist cause. If you were to write the first scene of a sequel, what would it depict? Would it show James using his silversmithing skills, his social connections, or his newfound courage in his work for the Underground Railroad?