• What play on words did you detect in the novella's title?



• The Queen at first reads because "one has a duty to find out what people are like," but later says "One reads for pleasure. It is not a public duty." How does this change take place?



• What books were you reminded of as the Queen's literary obsession began causing her to shirk her royal duties and pay less attention to her family?



• What would you have advised Her Majesty to read?



• What is the effect of reading a book about reading books? How might the fictional Queen respond to The Uncommon Reader?



• Would this tale have been as effective if the public leader at its center were not a monarch? What makes the English Queen ideal for this scenario?

(Used with permission – Source: Farrar, Straus and Giroux)