Early in her professional career, she had helped Arslan Rusakov, a famed Russian ballet dancer, defect to the West while his troupe was performing in Toronto, after which the two had an affair. Do you think Jacob decides to stay through the end of the performance?Ģ1.Shipstead’s second novel (after Seating Arrangements), set mostly in California and New York in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, concerns Joan Joyce, a ballerina who abandons the dance world when she becomes pregnant. What does Rodina, the title of Arslan and Chloe’s ballet, mean? (In Russia, it refers to “motherland.”)Ģ0. Shipstead shows us how Jacob reacts to Ludmilla’s phone call, but we don’t see Harry’s reaction. What is the metaphor of Emma Livry, the ballet dancer whose tutu catches fire?ġ8. What does “parent” mean, in terms of the novel? Which characters make good parents?ġ7. Which is more important in Harry’s life? What about for Chloe?ġ6. Why do Harry’s feelings for Chloe change?ġ5. How else does the younger generation resemble the older one? How do they differ?ġ4. Jacob adored Joan from childhood Harry adored Chloe from childhood. When Joan says to Chloe, “Ballet isn’t about you” (page 180), what does she mean? If ballet requires losing oneself, how does it also lead to selfish behavior off-stage?ġ3. What does he mean by this? How does it play out in his family’s life?ġ2. “I think things can be true even if they didn’t really happen,” Jacob says on page 144. How does Sandy shape her daughter’s future? What effect does her behavior at Disneyland have?ġ1. Throughout the novel, characters wonder why Arslan chose Joan to help him defect.

Is Joan’s aggressive pursuit of Arslan out of character for her? Why does she do it?ĩ.

On page 54, Jacob tells Joan, “Every family has a mythology.” What is his mythology for their family? How does Joan’s secret endanger it?Ĩ. And how does the perfectionism required of ballet dancers play into intent and control?ħ. What role does intent really play in their lives? How does this connect to the notion of control?Ħ.

The dancers have been taught that “going through the motions” is preferable (page 42). Jacob wants to live “an intentional life” but doesn’t really know what he intends. Control is the key to everything.” (page 8) What does Elaine mean by “control”? Which characters in the novel lose control, and to what effect?ĥ. The key, she has said to Joan, is control. “Elaine ingests a steady but restricted diet of cocaine without apparent consequence. How does she use these leaps to fill in the story?Ĥ. Shipstead skips forward and backward in time throughout the novel.

Who is the main character? Is that person also the hero?ģ. What does “Astonish me” mean, as a metaphor in the novel?Ģ.

Astonish me shipstead