One Summer in Savannah: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness, rape, and sexual violence.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What was your initial response to Sara and Jacob as narrators and protagonists?

2. Harris incorporates poetry as a major thematic and character element in the novel. She includes poems by Walt Whitman, E. E. Cummings, and William Butler Yeats, among others. What did you think of her use of poetry as such a key part of the narrative?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. How did you react to Sara’s approach to parenting Alana? Do you agree or disagree with her decision to keep Alana so isolated initially? Why?

2. Jacob and Sara both fled from their hometown following trauma and tragedy. Does this choice to leave resonate with any events from your life?

3. Family relationships in the novel are frequently complicated and fraught, especially between adult children and their parents. Jacob’s relationship with Birdie, in particular, is filled with unspoken conflict.