The Firemaster's Mistress - Reading Group Questions (HarperCollins USA)
28/09/08 18:12 Filed in: Reading
Groups
These are reading group questions prepared by my
publishers for the American publication. Since I
can’t be there to talk to you in person, I’ve written
a few answers of my own to some of the questions.
Please feel free to disagree. My friends and editors
are still divided over which male Quoynt they
prefer.
Introduction to the plot of The Firemaster’s Mistress
The spirited Kate Peach, the only survivor of the plague that wiped out her family, earns a precarious living among whores and con men in London’s red-light district as a glove-maker. Although economic need compels her to play the part of mistress to the powerful Hugh Traylor, Kate dreams of Francis Quoynt—her former lover, who abruptly abandoned her when the duties of war obliged him to travel to the Continent.
When Francis, firemaster and gunpowder expert, returns from Flanders, a chance meeting throws them together. But Kate, who has successfully managed to conceal her Catholicism until now from the newly Anglican eyes of London, has begun to shelter fugitive Jesuits.
Recruited by Robert Cecil, the inscrutable and dangerous English Secretary of State, Francis finds himself spying on Guy Fawkes’s plot to blow up Parliament. The gaudy, teeming streets of London hum with rumors of conspiracy as the Papist hotheads secretly pursue their plans for apocalyptic destruction., and when the former lovers meet again—this time as enemies—the flame of their passion is dangerously rekindled.
Questions for Discussion
1. How is Francis Quoynt’s intimate knowledge of gunpowder and explosive compounds responsible for drawing him into serving as a secret agent of Robert Cecil?
2. How would you characterize Kate and Francis’s feelings for each other? What explains their getting back together after the abrupt end to their relationship?
3. To what extent has Kate’s experience of losing her family to the plague made her incapable of trusting others?
4. Why does the religious fervor of the Gunpowder conspirators fuel their hatred of the English crown?
5. How does Kate’s willingness to shelter Jesuits make her Hugh Traylor’s co-conspirator?
6. What does Meg, the Caledonian bear, represent to Kate, and why?
My answer: The trapped female power. In the end, Meg’s strength helps to save Kate’s life, just as Kate’s own wits and energy have done, once released in her new life at Powder Mote.
7. What does Francis’s exposing his affiliation with Robert Cecil to the Robin Catesby reveal about his sympathy for the conspirators?
8. Why does the violent birth of Robert Stuart continue to agitate Boomer Quoynt?
My answer: I won’t say, because that would give away a big plot twist. However, I will say that I thought, when I first wrote him, that Robert Stuart might be pushing historical gossip a little too far. Then I met someone (who should know) who told me that the descendants of the noble family involved have always taken the reality of such a person for granted.
9. How does the presence of Francis Bacon, Robert Cecil’s adversarial cousin, at Pangdean Place thicken the plot considerably?
10. How did you feel about the conclusion of the novel, and Kate’s much-altered relationship with Francis Quoynt?
My answer: I’m very happy with the ending. It feels right to me, as a woman who has been through many of the familiar female struggles with love and marriage. I know that some women, mainly the younger ones, ask why I chose that happy ending instead of the other possible happy ending. I feel I’ve given Kate, after all her struggles, the wisdom of experience. She has learned how to recognize and value a good man. Anyway, what woman could resist a gift like Caledonian Meg?
Introduction to the plot of The Firemaster’s Mistress
The spirited Kate Peach, the only survivor of the plague that wiped out her family, earns a precarious living among whores and con men in London’s red-light district as a glove-maker. Although economic need compels her to play the part of mistress to the powerful Hugh Traylor, Kate dreams of Francis Quoynt—her former lover, who abruptly abandoned her when the duties of war obliged him to travel to the Continent.
When Francis, firemaster and gunpowder expert, returns from Flanders, a chance meeting throws them together. But Kate, who has successfully managed to conceal her Catholicism until now from the newly Anglican eyes of London, has begun to shelter fugitive Jesuits.
Recruited by Robert Cecil, the inscrutable and dangerous English Secretary of State, Francis finds himself spying on Guy Fawkes’s plot to blow up Parliament. The gaudy, teeming streets of London hum with rumors of conspiracy as the Papist hotheads secretly pursue their plans for apocalyptic destruction., and when the former lovers meet again—this time as enemies—the flame of their passion is dangerously rekindled.
Questions for Discussion
1. How is Francis Quoynt’s intimate knowledge of gunpowder and explosive compounds responsible for drawing him into serving as a secret agent of Robert Cecil?
2. How would you characterize Kate and Francis’s feelings for each other? What explains their getting back together after the abrupt end to their relationship?
3. To what extent has Kate’s experience of losing her family to the plague made her incapable of trusting others?
4. Why does the religious fervor of the Gunpowder conspirators fuel their hatred of the English crown?
5. How does Kate’s willingness to shelter Jesuits make her Hugh Traylor’s co-conspirator?
6. What does Meg, the Caledonian bear, represent to Kate, and why?
My answer: The trapped female power. In the end, Meg’s strength helps to save Kate’s life, just as Kate’s own wits and energy have done, once released in her new life at Powder Mote.
7. What does Francis’s exposing his affiliation with Robert Cecil to the Robin Catesby reveal about his sympathy for the conspirators?
8. Why does the violent birth of Robert Stuart continue to agitate Boomer Quoynt?
My answer: I won’t say, because that would give away a big plot twist. However, I will say that I thought, when I first wrote him, that Robert Stuart might be pushing historical gossip a little too far. Then I met someone (who should know) who told me that the descendants of the noble family involved have always taken the reality of such a person for granted.
9. How does the presence of Francis Bacon, Robert Cecil’s adversarial cousin, at Pangdean Place thicken the plot considerably?
10. How did you feel about the conclusion of the novel, and Kate’s much-altered relationship with Francis Quoynt?
My answer: I’m very happy with the ending. It feels right to me, as a woman who has been through many of the familiar female struggles with love and marriage. I know that some women, mainly the younger ones, ask why I chose that happy ending instead of the other possible happy ending. I feel I’ve given Kate, after all her struggles, the wisdom of experience. She has learned how to recognize and value a good man. Anyway, what woman could resist a gift like Caledonian Meg?