Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Book Club Discussion Questions for Father of Lions by Louise Callaghan

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Discuss |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

Father of Lions by Louise Callaghan

Father of Lions

One Man's Remarkable Quest to Save the Mosul Zoo

by Louise Callaghan
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Readers' Rating (27):
  • First Published:
  • Jan 14, 2020, 400 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2021, 416 pages
  • Rate this book

About this Book

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

In a book club? Subscribe to our Book Club Newsletter!

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

  1. When ISIS takes over Mosul and the Iraqi army evacuates, Abu Laith and his family try to run away, though they have to go back. Hakam and his family don't even try to leave. Would you stay or would you try to run?
  2. Though there are common struggles and events, Abu Laith and his family have a very different experience of the years living under siege than Hakam and his family do. Why do you think that is?
  3. Lumia is often angry with Abu Laith for thinking about the animals when she thinks he should be prioritizing his family because they're humans and deserve his help before the animals do, but Abu Laith believes that if you don't have mercy on animals you cannot be a good person. Who do you agree with? Is it possible to agree with both Lumia and Abu Laith?
  4. Abu Laith's children are all very concerned about the animals' well-being. Why do you think this is? Are they emulating their father? Is it just that kids love animals? Or is it something else altogether?
  5. The children think Mother is evil for attacking Warda and for eating Father. Abu Laith says it's just animal instinct, though her actions clearly upset him. Do you agree with the children or with Abu Laith?
  6. This book depicts many different ways of being religious. For example, there is Abu Laith, who is religious but "hates the trappings of organized religion with a deep passion." He clearly believes in God and is greatly angered by religious hypocrites, but refuses to go to the mosque to pray. Many people in the book, such as Abu Hareth, think this akin to blasphemy. Do you agree? Can there be more than one right way to worship the same god?
  7. Throughout the book Zombie, Lula, and Warda behave in surprisingly human-like ways, such as when Zombie knows to stay quiet in the truck, or when Lula mourns for her son. If you had to, would you say that these similarities come from animals having human instincts or from humans not having left all our animal instincts behind?
  8. Every time a new force comes into Mosul—the American army, ISIS, the Iraqi army—the citizens of Mosul are treated as the enemy. Soldiers would say this is necessary. Do you agree? Even if it is necessary, is it fair?
  9. It's widely known that ISIS recruits all over the world, but the group is usually portrayed in Western media as backwards-thinking Middle Eastern fanatics. Yet Hakam, Lumia, and Abu Laith all notice that many of the most extreme ISIS members are the foreign ones. What does this say to you?
  10. Caring about animals is used as a litmus test for being a good person throughout this story. Do you agree with that?
  11. If you had to distill one moral from this book, what would it be?


Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Forge Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Missing Thread
    The Missing Thread
    by Daisy Dunn
    The fabric of ancient history is stitched heavily with stories of dramatic politics, conquest, and ...
  • Book Jacket: Model Home
    Model Home
    by Rivers Solomon
    Rivers Solomon's novel Model Home opens with a chilling and mesmerizing line: "Maybe my mother is ...
  • Book Jacket
    The Frozen River
    by Ariel Lawhon
    "I cannot say why it is so important that I make this daily record. Perhaps because I have been ...
  • Book Jacket
    Prophet Song
    by Paul Lynch
    Paul Lynch's 2023 Booker Prize–winning Prophet Song is a speedboat of a novel that hurtles...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
The Story Collector
by Evie Woods
From the international bestselling author of The Lost Bookshop!
Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Who Said...

A million monkeys...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.