Book Club Guide for City of Liars
- What causes Aularia’s soul searching when she witnesses the Auto de Fe?
- Harbor Master Pero Cardona tells Joachim he “always seemed to walk the edge… and skirted the boundaries”. What kind of expectation does that set up about his personality? What traits do rule-breakers have that others do not?
- When Friar Cirera tasks Aularia to “visit” two families on the pretense of keeping them faithful; what prevents her from recognizing he is using her as a pawn?
- Joachim lost his mother at a young age, then his grandparents. Then he loses Silveyra. How might that series of losses impact his relationships and social behavior?
- Why does Joachim disguise himself and risk going to the celebration of Carnivale? How does his outlook change through that experience?
- When Joachim senses that Aularia is drawn to him, he describes her as “beyond my station” and he is “unworthy of her attentions”. What does he mean and what is he afraid of?
- Why does Joachim become wary when he meets with Bautista at his villa? What causes the level of trust shift between the men?
- What does Aularia hope to gain by inviting Joachim to rendezvous at the Cathedral? What makes her slow down and reconsider?
- How is Joachim viewed by friends and leaders within the Jewish community on Montjuic? Why does he reject the rabbi’s caution about helping Conversos?
- When Aularia goes with Joachim on horseback to the overlook on Montjuic, what happens that impacts her capacity for critical thinking? Why does she later have a change of heart and meet him at the cloisters?
- After the rescue mission when Joachim and Aularia meet inside a carriage, she says “my entire life has been a ruse, an act.” “Now, I lie to the liars and keep secrets from the secret holders.”What has she discovered and how has that changed her? How does this revelation draw her closer to Joachim?
- How does Joachim’s early encounters with Khalil Rahman at his home and the launch of the Jubilee impact Joachim’s sense of himself?
- How do the kidnapping of Squire Ferrer Parxet and the rescue of the Henriquez family dressed as the Hermandad disturb Joachim’s moral code and self perception?
- What experiences and insights lead Aularia to finally assassinate her captor and escape to freedom?
- How do the loss of the Jubilee and the Bautista treasure, being stranded on an island, and hauling sulfur force Joachim to take personal inventory and come to a new perspective?
- When Aularia says “death doesn’t seem to frighten me anymore,” what does she mean and why is this insight a major change in her character? How have fear and death played a role in her reactions and choices?