Discussion questions for The Immortalists

[Chris, Book Club Leader]

1 If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

2.THE IMMORTALISTS explores the degree to which we shape our own destinies. Do you believe that the siblings’ fate was preordained? Why or why not?

3.The novel takes place in very different settings --- 1960s New York City, the San Francisco dance scene, glitzy Las Vegas hotels. In what ways do these locations affect the characters? Why do you think all four of the siblings moved away from New York City?

[Chris, Book Club Leader]

a bit of trivia - about the book cover.
I recognize this 'perfect' design is symbolic to this story.
Jewish Kabbalists believe "The Tree of Life" to be a diagrammatic representation of the process by which the Universe came into being".
Jewish Kabbalists also don't envision time and space as pre-existing.
A wonderful -symbolically fitting book cover -- The mysticism of the fortune teller mixed with traditional Jewish beliefs