About the Book

Reading Group Guide

1. Map of the Heart moves between two stories, one set in 1940s France and the other in present-day America. How do the journeys of the characters in these dual narratives complement each other?
2. What do you think was the root of Julie’s insecurities? Do you think Camille’s approach to helping Julie was right? How would you handle this sort of situation?
3. Lisette’s narrative portrays occupied France in the last years of World War II. Has reading this novel given you a new perspective of the sacrifices soldiers and civilians made during times of war?
4. Like Finn in the novel, people really make professions out of finding lost soldiers from the wars. What do you think is the importance of these operations?
5. Since her husband’s death, Camille’s grief has held her back from enjoying her passions and taking new chances. What do you think was keeping Camille from healing after so many years?
6. Although both Camille and Finn are coping with sorrows from their pasts, their initial attraction for each other is powerful. What do you think draws Finn and Camille to each other? What do they each need in the other?
7. Have you ever been the victim of bullying like Julie and Henry? How would you respond in this situation?
8. Do you think Henry was right to keep the truth of the Palmer family history from Camille, or should he have been more open with her? What would you have done?
9. Think about the character of Didier Palomar. He tells Lisette he is trying to save his town from the war, even if it means making sacrifices. Do you think Didier really believed he was doing the right thing?
10. Henry, Camille, and Julie each have a different connection to France. How has each character’s perspective of the country, and themselves, changed throughout the novel?
11. Have you ever discovered a mystery about your ancestry? What do you wish you could know about your family’s past?

Jane Green Interviews Susan Wiggs About Map of the Heart

This interview was originally published in the Amazon Book Review

Camille Palmer has already been through the wringer. Widowed, and with a teenager in tow, she just wants to grieve quietly on the Delaware shore and try to pick up the pieces of her life. But a mysterious package shows up that alters this plan entirely, and Camille—along with her daughter and father—end up going to France to answer some questions about their family’s past, questions that trace back to the Nazi resistance during WWII. Here, Jane Green asks Susan Wiggs about Map of the Heart, the novel she has said is “a moving, sophisticated story of fathers and daughters, love and loss, secrets and lies, rebellion and redemption.”

JANE GREEN: Susan, in each of your novels, you catch a concern we all have about our families, ourselves, or our partners and put it on the page for your characters to deal with. What’s the issue Camille and Julie must deal with in Map of the Heart?