READERS GUIDE

1. Two voices in particular—Sam’s and Amy’s—are left out of the chorus of individual perspectives that form the narrative. How do you think their inclusion would have changed the story and its themes?
2. Tom Bailey engages in reckless and hurtful behavior. How do these actions affect our perception of him? Can his behavior be justified by his grief?
3. With the division and isolation that has impacted the town, do you see commonalities in the experiences and feelings of the characters? Do you think that loss and heartbreak can create a bridge to connection or only deeper ruptures?
4. What do you imagine to be the future for Tom and Sarah? Do they return to a state of contented marriage, or is their relationship irreparably broken?
5. What is the role of fear as a driving force throughout the novel? Which characters are the most afraid? What are they really scared of?
6. Poverty and unemployment are rife throughout the small town and each character is plagued on some level with financial struggles. Those with the most difficulty—Sam and Amy, Kent’s family—are those with the most extreme and harmful views. How do these financial differences impact the social positions of characters and their beliefs? What does this suggest about the interaction between economics and isolation?
7. The town plays a large role in the personal histories of certain characters. Does having roots somewhere make a person entitled to the place? What does the depiction of the town say about who belongs to which communities and how are those communities formed and their mores enforced?
8. From Sarah’s removed emotional state, Khalid’s ignorance of Rashid’s troubles, Mary Lou’s emotionally abusive mother, to Kent’s physically abusive home, the novel contains several examples of the emotional and physical harm parents can inflict on their children. Why do you think Kiefer made this a central theme? How does it relate to other ideas explored in the novel?
9. The Heart of it All follows several families of multiple generations. What do these families represent in terms of American society in general? How do their fates embody the economic and social changes that have occurred over the last century? Are the youngest members trapped by these changes?
10. Does Khalid’s view of his father change after Rafia reveals his parent’s financial struggles? How has his father impacted his views of masculinity and responsibility? Does this change after the revelation?
11. Consider the end of Part 3: “The hills rising away in all directions, the continent around them, sea to shining sea. And there they were at the heart of it all: himself, and just ahead, his father and his son, the two of them laughing … Khalid knew he would remember this moment all his life.” In what ways do the allusions to nature and physicality relate to the novel as a whole?