Book Club Discussion Questions
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Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
Introduction
When Jo Harper falls in love with maverick archaeologist Doug Marshall, she
also falls into Doug's obsession: the disappearance of the Franklin Expedition.
In 1845, Sir John Franklin and his crew of one hundred and twenty men sailed two
ships to the Arctic and were never seen again. Doug has spent his career in
search of what happened to them, sacrificing his first marriage and his
relationship with his son, John, along the way. But as he and Jo plan their
future together, a shocking accident forever changes their lives.
Devastated by the accident, John goes into self-imposed hiding. Jo, feeling
abandoned, is confronted by the unthinkable —her young son,
Sam, has a life-threatening disease and his only hope of survival lies with John
Marshall. Desperate to find John, Jo soon learns that his fate is curiously tied
to the Franklin Expedition. Haunted by Franklin and his own past, John has
ventured into the ice floes of the Arctic in search of answers to what happened
to Franklin's crew and to his own life. Unbeknownst to him, a frantic search is
on; not only to save his life, but the life of another he doesn't know is in
jeopardy.
Discussion Questions
- Are there points of similarity between the three mothers (Jo, Alicia, and
the polar bear) featured in The Ice Child?
- What points of similarity exist, if any, among the three sons of The
Ice Child (John, Sam, and polar bear cub)?
- Does John's relationship with his father have any bearing on John's
relationship with Catherine? Why or why not?
- As citizens of a modern age, do we have (or does the possibility exist
for) an exploration that parallels what the Franklin Expedition meant to the
people who lived in Victorian times? Does the story of The Ice Child
provide one?
- What do you think motivates Alicia's change of heart towards Jo and Sam?
- Does the character of Catherine Takkiruq and her relationship to John, Jo,
and Sam have any bearing to the relationship between the Esquimaux that
Crozier encountered?
- Working from historical fact, author Elizabeth McGregor has imagined the
possible outcome of the Franklin Expedition. From what you have read in The
Ice Child, what circumstances prevented the Expedition from a successful
outcome?
- Many of the characters in The Ice Child are searching for something—a
passage, an answer, a reason, a cure. Is every search successful? Noble?
Necessary?
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