READERS GUIDE

Questions and Topics for Discussion

A ‘crucible’ can refer to a container for melting substances at high temperatures, a severe test or trial, or a place where concentrated forces interact to cause change. How does this apply to the novel and to the city of Detroit in the era depicted?

How does this metaphor differ from our usually benign reference to America as a ‘melting pot’?

Though set in the past, the novel is written almost entirely in the present tense. How does this affect the feel and rhythm of the story?

We spend time with characters both famous (or famous in their time and place, like Harry Bennett and Jerry Buckley) and fictional in the course of the book. How do the actions of those with power affect those just trying to get along in life?

The novel takes place over a fifteen-year period. How do the ads for new Ford cars help denote the passage of time?

We are constantly shifted from one character’s point of view to another’s. How is this done without ever drifting into ‘first person’ narrative?

How do the references to the entertainment of the day (boxing, baseball, movies, songs) help us understand both the times and the characters?

Henry Ford’s empire stretches all the way to the Amazon. How do the ‘model communities’ of Fordlandia and Bellterra become crucibles in their own way?

What do you find admirable and just plain awful about Henry Ford as portrayed?

Race and ethnicity are major factors in the lives of the novel’s characters. How does this book reflect on the America we live in today?

Which characters do you find yourself rooting for the most?

Two of the major female characters, Kerry and Rosa, start out very hopeful about the future. How do you think they fared in the years after the novel ends?