An Imperfect Lens (32 page)
AN IMPERFECT LENS
BY ANNE ROIPHE
READING GROUP GUIDE
ABOUT THE BOOK
Alexandria in the 1880s is bustling with commerce, teeming with busy residents, and plagued by a swift and gruesome killer: cholera. As the microbes that carry the disease swim and swarm through the city, a team of French scientists enters the danger zone in order to seek out the organism that is killing thousands. If only they can identify the microbe, science can learn to treat and prevent future outbreaks. The clock ticks against them as the disease rages on, but Louis Thuillier, a young member of the French team, can find no explanations. What he does discover is an unexpected and thrilling bond with the daughter of a local doctor, an unlikely attraction that turns the threatening Egyptian city into a new world of hope. But even this new love may not survive old prejudices as virulent as the sickness that threatens them all.
The questions below are designed to help direct and inspire your discussion of
An Imperfect Lens
.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
With regular references to Alexandria’s lighthouse, library, and historical residents, the location of the story seems critically important to the author. Why do you think she chose Alexandria as her setting?
Discuss Este’s relationship to her physical appearance. Why does she seem to derive comfort from seeing her own face in the mirror? What is reassuring to her about seeing her reflection? Do you notice this preoccupation change during the course of the book?
Dr. Malina from time to time reflects on empirical experience as a somewhat unreliable guide—for instance, when he realizes that Este will not protest her engagement to Albert, despite what he expects (“only” because of “experience”). However, it doesn’t seem that Este has given him cause to expect otherwise. What experience is he referring to? Do you think he is in touch with who his daughter really is?
Marcus seems to become unreliable quickly in Alexandria, his loyalty and value as an assistant questionable at best. Why do you think Pasteur thought highly enough of him to insist that he accompany the mission? Do you think Marcus behaved differently in Paris? Why or why not?
Why does Ahmed swindle Albert even as he acknowledges the value of having a bank employee in his debt? Do you think this is a deliberate decision, or the result of greed overruling judgment?
Why do Marcus and Eric find friendship with each other so quickly? Do you think their business partnership will be a success? Why or why not?
Eric Fortman has been employed as an overseer for the transport of Scotch, an inspector for an Alexandrian importer, and a spy for the British authorities—and doesn’t show a particular talent for any of the above. Still, he clearly thinks of himself as a clever salesman and an asset to his employers. How does he justify this high opinion of himself? Do you think it is warranted?
What do you think of Este’s friend Phoebe? Do you think she deliberately misguides Este toward marrying Albert, or is she innocently optimistic and simply foolish in her judgment? Why do you think she disappears from the story after Este and Albert’s engagement is broken off?
Discuss the characters’ relationship with material things—from the loss of cargo at the beginning of the book, to the servants’ decisions to leave or take the Malinas’ treasures, to Este’s final packing priorities at her Alexandria home. How does each character’s relationship to worldly goods help define him or her?
How do you think Este and Louis’s story would have ended had he remained healthy and joined her on the
Romulus
? Would Dr. Malina have accepted him under the family’s new circumstances?
The cholera microbe is referred to numerous times as “amoral.” Why does the author choose to use and repeat this word? What is the role of morality in the book in general?
Do you think the story has a moral? If so, how would you describe it?
Discuss Pasteur’s role in the story. How important is he as a character, or figurehead, or even a kind of stand-in deity for the French scientists? What does his distant presence in the book add to the story, if anything?
ALSO BY ANNE ROIPHE
FICTION
Secrets of the City
Digging Out
Up the Sandbox
Long Division
Torch Song
Lovingkindness
The Pursuit of Happiness
If You Knew Me
NONFICTION
Generation Without Memory
A Jewish Journey Through Christian America
Your Child’s Mind
(with Dr. Herman Roiphe)
A Season for Healing: Reflections on the Holocaust
Fruitful
1185 Park Avenue
For Rabbit, With Love and Squalor
Marriage: A Fine Predicament
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are
the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2006 by Anne Roiphe
Reader’s Group Guide copyright © 2006 by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of
the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
THREE RIVERS PRESS and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roiphe, Anne Richardson, 1935–
An imperfect lens: a novel / Anne Roiphe.—1st ed.
1. Alexandria (Egypt)—Fiction. 2. French—Egypt—Fiction. 3. Scientists—
Fiction. 4. Epidemics—Fiction. 5. Cholera—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3568.053I47 2006
813’.54—dc22 2005011250
eISBN: 978-0-307-41978-1
v3.0
