Home Again

How does the novel use technical and professional medical characters and language as a juxtaposition to the familial and emotional side of the heart transplant experience? What effect does this have?

Francis DeMarco’s death plays into the novel’s treatment of tragic love and fate. In what ways does this draw on tropes in classical or canonical literature around unrequited love?

Home Again was Kristin Hannah’s first contemporary novel and can be read within the tradition of 1990s women’s fiction. Do you see the novel as a feminist novel or one that idealized traditional roles for women? Why?

How does the novel use secrets and lies to develop its main themes? How does this change as the narrative progresses and what effect does it have on the character arcs and interrelationships?

Analyze how the physical location of Seattle is used in the novel, both the built and natural environment. How does this affect the presentation of “home.”

Madelaine and Angel’s renew their romantic relationship at her abandoned childhood home. What is the significance of this setting and how does it reflect and impact these characters’ emotional progression?

Why do you think Hannah chose to make Francis a priest? How does this relate to his role in the novel, and to the treatment of religious or supernatural elements?

Madelaine says in Chapter 3 that Lina is “exactly like” Angel. How does the novel explore the ideas of nature and nurture? To what extent is Lina’s similarity to Angel the result of genetic inheritance, and how much the result of his absence?