How do you think a child is affected by an early experience of the death of a close relative? What was your first experience with death and how did you react? Did it change your outlook on life? Children come to their awareness of death at various ages and in various ways. Nina wants to recover for her children their “palmy days” of a carefree childhood.

In the book Nina writes: “it is a gift we humans have, to hold onto beauty felt in a moment for a lifetime.” What does Nina mean by “beauty”? What are some examples from your own life- “moments of beauty” that you will never forget? In your own experiences of reading, how has a book allowed you to relive a difficult period in your life or in world history, and learn from that event? Do you believe, as Nina does, that experiences can lead to learning and improved chances for mankind? How do you define a “full life”? How has that definition changed over the years of your life, and what events from your life led you to change that definition?

What books did you love as a child that can still elicit strong emotions in you today?Īfter losing her sister to cancer, Nina Sankovitch reacted by trying to live a life full of activities: “I was going to live double if my sister couldn’t live at all.” It is only after three years of incessant activity, a life “lived at increasing speed”, that she realizes a “full life” does not mean full of scheduled commitments, planned activities, and constant engagement. One of Nina’s favorite books from childhood, The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, can still bring tears to her eyes when she reads it today.

Tolstoy and the purple chair