The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 4

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. How does reading Emma’s private journal create a different experience for you compared to other forms of historical fiction? Have you read other diary-style novels, like E. M. Delafield’s The Diary of a Provincial Lady, and how did this one compare in its tone and voice?

2. The story balances moments of high comedy, like the disastrous performance at The Drunken Duck, with deep sorrow, such as Maxwell’s burial. How did this blend of tones affect your reading experience? Did you find it jarring, or did it make Emma’s world feel more authentic?

3. What part of Emma’s story will stick with you the most? Was it a particular scene, a relationship, or an idea that resonated with you after you finished the book?

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

1. Emma’s list of “Possible Avenues of Employment” ranges from the practical to the absurd (98). Thinking about your own life, have you ever felt a similar uncertainty considering your future, and how did you choose a path a forward?

2. One of the novel’s major themes is Friendship as an Emotional Anchor. Share a story about a time in your life when your friends were an important support system. 

3. For Emma, reading Emerson’s essays is a form of resistance and self-discovery. Has there ever been a book, poem, or piece of philosophy that served as a guide or a source of strength for you during a particular period of your life?

4. Hawkes describes the friendship between Emma, Pierce, Islington, and himself as “Alchemy.” Have you ever experienced a friendship that felt like it created something new and powerful, and what do you think made it so strong?

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

1. The narrative is set just as the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882 came into effect. How does Emma’s struggle to maintain control of Lapis Lazuli House and remain a femme sole bring the real-world implications of this law to life?

2. What does Pierce’s work as a combat photographer reveal about the Victorian public’s connection to its empire’s wars? How did photography begin to change the way people understood conflicts like the Second Anglo-Afghan War, which were happening far from home?

3. What message do you think Mrs. Penury is sending with her decade-long vow of silence? In a world that often demands constant performance, how does her radical silence challenge the social roles expected of women in Emma’s society and in our own?

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

1. What are the biggest advantages of telling this story through Emma’s journal entries? Conversely, what do you feel might be lost or skewed by seeing every event and character filtered exclusively through her perspective?

2. Discuss how Beth Brower uses Lapis Lazuli House as a motif of Women’s Struggle for Independence throughout the novel.

3. How do Emma and her cousin Arabella serve as foils for one another? What does Arabella’s pragmatic approach to the marriage market reveal about Emma’s own fiercely independent nature?

4. What do the allusions to Shakespeare throughout the story reveal about Emma’s inner world and relationships?

5. Emma’s core friend group consists of Pierce, Islington, and Hawkes. How does each man contribute a different kind of support to her? 

6. How effective did you find Cousin Archibald as the novel’s primary antagonist? Does his portrayal as a petty, almost comical villain rather than a truly dangerous one change the nature of the story’s central conflict?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine you are a member of The Reprobates Ten planning Emma’s coronation. Besides “Eleanor of Aquitaine,” what other historical or literary figure would you have chosen to crown her, and what “royal” decree would you have her issue first?

2. If you could give one piece of advice to Emma at the end of the book, what would it be? What future challenges do you foresee for her, and what strengths will she need to rely on most?

3. What do you imagine happens in the correspondence between Aunt Eugenia and the fictional chaperone, Agnes Dowd? If you were to write one of Agnes’s letters back to Eugenia, what would you say to both reassure her and subtly protect Emma’s freedom?