1. The Penny Heart token and hair jewellery both embody our need for remembrance. Why do both Grace and Mary feel a special need to cherish these objects? Do we have modern 'memorial objects ' today?
2. Like a quarter of all women convicts Mary had tattoos. This has been described as an attempt to re-claim their bodies from the State. Why do you think convict women wore tattoos?
3. Mary's decision to follow The Life takes her into a lively criminal subculture with a secret language and code of behaviour. How would you compare this to the modern criminal world and those who carry out identity theft today?
4. In the 1790s the French Revolution cast a dark shadow over Britain's class system. Do you agree that Mary (Peg) might have had a completely different life if she had been born into better circumstances?
5. The law of the time meant that only Grace's husband could manage her inheritance. Has this attitude entirely disappeared today?
6. The book's recipes include foods that are adulterated, intoxicating and dangerous. Grace warns the reader that we should be careful what we eat. Is this still the case today?
7. Mary encounters a very different culture when she lives with the Maori in New Zealand and appears to adapt and even admire them. Nevertheless, how do you feel the experience changes her?
8. Mary's insatiable hunger and fantasies about recipes are based on true accounts of starving prisoners. Do you think she was right to eat anything to survive?
9. How much did your sympathies move between Grace and Mary? How did you feel about the ending?
10. Imagine that Mary, Michael and Nan had to stand trial for the crimes (if any) they committed. If you were on the jury what would your verdict be? Do you think a judge would agree?
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