Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. The novel opens with a stark prologue and jumps between multiple timelines, only revealing the full story of the family’s ancestor, Sarah(?), at the very end. How did this non-linear structure affect your reading experience? Did you find it a powerful way to understand generational trauma, or was it challenging to follow?

2. How did you react to the intense focus on matrilineal bonds throughout the story? For those of you who have read Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, how do the relationships between the Dupree women compare to the bonds between characters like Celie, Nettie, and Shug?

3. Let’s talk about the ending. Did you find Tati’s journey to becoming the family historian a satisfying conclusion to the seven-generation saga? What single moment or image from the book has stayed with you the most?

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

1. Tati spends much of her childhood filling the void of her absent father with stories and poems. Think about a time you’ve had to piece together parts of your own family’s history. How do the stories we imagine about our relatives shape our sense of self?

2. The mother-daughter relationships in this book are incredibly complex, especially between Nadia and Gladys, and Jubi and Ruby. Which of these dynamics resonated most with you, and why? Which relationship in your life resonates most with the dynamic you selected?

3. Nadia’s hair salon becomes her sanctuary and her path to independence, a space where she builds community and a career on her own terms. Have you ever had a place, whether through work or a hobby, that served as a source of personal strength and identity for you?

4. Jubi’s decision to pass as white is driven by a desire for safety and a better life, but it comes at a great personal cost. Think about a time when you may have felt pressure to hide or change a part of yourself to meet external expectations. What does Jubi’s story suggest about the importance of self-acceptance?

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

1. What did you know about the Black maternal health crisis before reading this book? How did the story of the Dupree women’s reproductive struggles, which is a metaphor for this real-world issue, personalize the topic for you?

2. Jubi’s story illustrates the social and psychological pressures of colorism in the post-Reconstruction South. What does her experience reveal about the destructive impact of internalized racism? Where do you see the legacy of these hierarchies today?

3. The guide mentions “drapetomania,” a pseudoscientific term used to diagnose an enslaved person’s desire to escape as a mental illness. In what ways do you see similar patterns today, where the valid reactions of marginalized groups are framed as irrational or pathological by dominant cultures?

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

1. The author tells this story in a non-linear way, saving the foundational trauma of Sarah(?)’s murder for the final chapters. Why do you think she chose this structure? How does withholding the origin story until the end change its impact and our understanding of the generations that followed?

2. In what ways does the old family Bible represent the family’s contradictory impulses to both document and erase its own painful history?

3. The motif of hair and hairdressing is woven through every generation of the story. How does its meaning transform from Sarah(?)’s act of resistance to Nadia’s business and finally to the closing scene of family care?

4. The novel presents a stark contrast between its male characters. How do men like Sampson and Eugene function as foils to figures like Roman and Zephaniah Foster? What might the author be suggesting about partnership and accountability?

5. Let’s discuss Gladys. For much of the book, she appears to be a cruel antagonist, particularly toward Nadia. How did the late-stage revelation of her own deep trauma shift your perspective on her character and her motivations?

6. The author has cited Ashanti Anderson’s poetry collection, Black Under, as a key inspiration. Based on the guide’s description, how does understanding this literary context deepen your reading of the novel’s opening line and its overall treatment of historical violence?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Tati channels her family’s history into poetry, becoming their storyteller. If you were tasked with preserving your own family’s legacy, what creative form would you choose, such as a cookbook, a quilt, a playlist, or a series of interviews? What story would you most want to tell?

2. If you were adapting The Seven Daughters of Dupree for the screen, which storyline or character arc would you find most difficult to portray visually, and why? What choices would you make to bring that part of the story to life?

3. Imagine Tati’s daughter as a young woman learning her family’s full history for the first time. Which piece of wisdom from the seven generations of Dupree women do you believe would be most important for her to carry into the future?