Book Club
Discussion Questions
- Mexico City is almost like a character in Palace of the Blue Butterfly and plays a significant role. In what ways do Lili’s interactions with the city change her throughout the course of the book?
- Discuss the character of Vivienne in the novel. How has she shaped Lili’s outlook and life? How has your sibling shaped yours?
- What do you think Hanes’s motivations are throughout the novel? How and why do they change? If you have lived abroad, have you ever known someone like her?
- Discuss the role of jealousy and mistrust in the novel. Is Lili’s jealousy resolved by the end of the book? How?
- Lili had hoped to create a safe and secure life for herself in the States. What prevented her from doing this?
- Could Lili and Joel have worked out their relationship? Should Lili have tried harder?
- Discuss importance of being artists in the lives of the women characters?
- What does Vivienne mean when she says there are “worlds within worlds here”? After reading the novel, do you agree?
- Lili discovers something that changes the way she see things. Has some new and surprising information ever had that affect on you?
- What does the future hold for the main characters after the novel’s conclusion? How will all the discoveries affect everyone’s lives?