Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What was your overall opinion of The Violin Maker’s Secret? Which elements of the story, like Gabrielle and Devlin’s romance or the historical mystery, were your favorites, and why?

2. If you have read Woods’s other novels, like The Lost Bookshop, The Story Collector, or The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris, what similarities and differences can you notice? If this is the first novel you’ve read by Woods, did this book make you want to explore her other work?

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

1. Each of the three protagonists has a painful emotional background. Which character resonated with you most, and why? What personal experiences from your life can you connect to the character of your choice?

2. The characters in the novel all have their own personal connection to music, which fuels their creativity and passion. What, in your own life, fuels your imagination?

3. Gabrielle and Devlin struggle to form a romantic attachment, but they eventually overcome their obstacles and fall in love. Have you ever had a romantic relationship with obstacles in your path? Did that relationship come to fruition?

4. Gabrielle’s history of abuse deeply informs her worldview and relationships. What fundamental experiences have shaped your lived experience? How did her experience resonate with your own?

5. Walter’s loneliness is the main issue he seeks to overcome throughout The Violin Maker’s Secret. Consider a time you felt lonely. How did it impact you? How did you overcome it?

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

1. Woods evaluates the relationship between gender and power through Gabrielle’s experiences with Max Daunt and his abusive behavior. What conclusions does the novel draw about how men in power contribute to gendered bias in the domain of art and music?

2. The novel traces the violin’s impact over hundreds of years, passing through many hands. How does this portrayal contribute to the conversation about how the past impacts the present?

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

1. Woods uses a first-person point of view in the chapters from the violin’s perspective but keeps the other chapters in third-person narration. How would the novel be different if the narrative were told entirely from the first- or third-person point of view?

2. “The Two Sisters” plays an important background role in the violin’s history. Identify the connections between the 17th-century murder ballad and the development of the novel’s plot.

3. The events of the novel primarily take place in London, England, and Ireland. How do these two different settings impact the tone of the novel?

4. Discuss the novel’s representation of the relationship between music, emotion, and human connection.

5. Consider the violin’s dual role as a motif and character. How does it function differently in each role?  

6. Explore Woods’s blended use of real historical figures and invented characters in the flashback chapters of the violin’s history. How does each real historical example impact the novel’s events?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. If you were adapting The Violin Maker’s Secret into a television series, who would you cast in the main roles? Who would you choose as a showrunner, and what tone would you seek to create?

2. Make a playlist featuring the classical music discussed within the text (Paganini’s compositions, for example) blended with songs of your choosing that remind you of the book itself. Why did you choose those particular songs, and how do they reflect your reading experience?