Discussion Questions: A Bird on a Windowsill

READING GROUP GUIDE
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
A Bird on a Windowsill

1. Were you surprised that Savannah had a boyfriend the first time she came back from South Carolina?  Did you feel for Salem (Eben)?
2. What is your impression of Savannah’s Uncle Lester? What do you think about Lester’s relationship with Olivia? 
3. Do you think Savannah was justified in pushing back her feelings for Salem while she lived in South Carolina? Would you have done the same?
4. What are your thoughts about Jake? Do you think he and Savannah make a good couple?
5. After Salem gets the safe open he tells Savannah that he thinks he’s in love with her. Was Savannah justified in thinking that Salem might be jealous? Knowing that he was still with Anna, would you have turned Salem down then?
6. In Salem's letter to Savannah that he gives her near the end of the novel, he rewrites his time with her. Are there moments where you would rewrite time, if you could?
7. What were your thoughts when Salem told Savannah that he was going to ask Anna to marry him? Do you think that this was too soon after he had confessed his love for Savannah? Would you have said more to him at that time, if you were Savannah?
8. How does Olivia and Lester’s relationship parallel Savannah and Salem’s? In the end, how did Olivia and Lester’s relationship affect Savannah and Salem’s?
9. When Savannah tells Jake that she is in love with Salem, Jake seems to already know. Why do you think this is? Do you feel for Jake?
10. When Savannah goes to Iowa to find Salem, she finds him in the lumberyard with Anna. Would you have reacted how Savannah did or would you have stayed and talked to Salem?
11. Were you surprised at what Salem was building on Sheppard’s Hill or did you suspect this all along?
12. Several times throughout the story, Savannah comments about wishing she had seen Salem's love for her sooner. Do you think she should have seen this sooner or do you think Salem and Savannah needed to take this journey to realize their love for one another? How many times have you not realized your love for someone?
13. In the epilogue, Savannah says: Love never leaves us. We just have to choose it. Do you agree with her statement? Do you believe that we have to choose love?​