8. God concludes his words to Bill Landsmann by saying, “I created you in my image. I am not created in yours!” Much of the novel is devoted to images and re-creations: museums figure prominently, paintings appear by Vermeer and Rembrandt, Naomi Landsmann makes copies of famous works of art, photographs take on large significance, miniature enthusiasts create exact replicas of material life, and Bill Landsmann assembles a collection of thousands of slides. When are these images successful, and when do they fail? Are there limitations on human creativity?

9. Speaking of his father, Nadav Landsmann, Bill Landsmann says, “It is often said that we are shaped by our experiences, but I do not believe that’s true. . . . I think we are not shaped by our experiences, but by what we do choose—by how we react to our experiences.” Do you believe him? For which of the characters in the novel might this be true?

10. The novel borrows language from the story of Cain and Abel to describe the death of Isaac, Nadav’s cousin. Is Nadav actually responsible for Isaac’s death? Why does he consider himself to be? Is he responsible for his wife’s fate? Which affects him more: his actual experience, or what he makes of it?

11. Besides the Book of Job, there are many references to the Hebrew bible and to Jewish literature scattered throughout the novel. A few of the many examples: in the first chapter, the story of Leora and Bill Landsmann’s ascent up East Mountain borrows language from the biblical binding of Isaac in Genesis 22; at the suicide of the aspiring singer Joe Solovey, the novel quotes the Talmud by saying he is “unable to complete his work, but never free to desist from it.” Does one need to recognize these allusions, or others like them, in order to appreciate the novel? For the modern reader, are these references another example of how people misread one another? Or are they another example of reclamation?

12. The novel begins with the words, “Accidents of fate are rarely fatal accidents.” Which ultimately dominates the novel, free will or fate?

A CONVERSATION WITH DARA HORN

Is your family history comparable to the Landsmanns?

My family history is actually nothing like the Landsmann family history. I am a fourth-generation American. My ancestors came to America from Eastern Europe at the turn of the century (1900, that is, not 2000!). If anything, my family’s experience is reflected in that of the character named Freydl/Frances, who happily settles into life in New Jersey without looking back. I invented this particular family history in part because I wanted to demonstrate the difference America made in the lives of so many European Jews who were lucky enough to come here as early as my family did, and the many ways in which America, despite being older politically than most of the countries in Europe, really remains a vast new world.