Richardson, TX
Home MenuDiscussion Questions
RROB Author Lecture
Join us at the Richardson Reads One Book Author Lecture Tuesday, September 24th at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church Richardson. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. RROB is privileged to welcome Brendan Slocumb, author of "Symphony of Secrets" to our community to discuss his novel. Tickets are free and online only at bit.ly/RROBLecture24 beginning September 10th at 9 am and are available on a first-come, first-served basis, until they are gone. Because this event is expected to fill to capacity, please reserve tickets only for those who you know can attend so everyone in the community who wishes to take part can do so. Tickets are limited to 2 per order and per email address.
RROB Author Luncheon
Luncheon ticket sales are now open at bit.ly/RROBLunch24! The deadline to buy luncheon tickets is Sunday, September 15th; however, last year's tickets sold out, so we encourage you to purchase your tickets early!
Check here, www.Facebook.com/Richardson Library, or www.Facebook.com/RROBTX for updates.
Discussion Questions for Symphony of Secrets (2024):
- Was Freddy wrong, given who he was and when he lived, to “help” Josephine the way he did?
- Is Freddy a hero or a villain, and why?
- If Josephine hadn’t been Black, do you think that Freddy could have gotten away with what he did?
- If Josephine hadn’t been neurodivergent, do you think that Freddy could have gotten away with what he did?
- In the author’s note, he says that he wrote this book to be a “voice for the voiceless”. What do you think he meant and have you ever felt silenced? Have you ever tried to help others who could be seen as “voiceless”? If so, how?
- Was the Delaney Foundation inherently greedy or evil, or were they just trying to preserve their legacy?
- How important, or unimportant, was it that most of the Board members were white, and that Bern and Eboni were Black?
- In the 1920s, many composers would go to jazz clubs and appropriate melodies and themes from other musicians. Is this appropriation necessarily bad, or is that just what art is – to adapt someone else’s vision and make it your own? How much is too much?
- Bern struggled when he discovered that his idol, Freddy Delaney, had done some really rotten things. Have you ever had your idealism destroyed when someone you looked up to turned out to be not what you expected?
- Do you think it’s important that the present-day story line never discovered what happened to Josephine?
- The author has said that the book is about the limits of human knowledge. How do you think the story lines and themes play into that?
- Who’s your favorite character and why?