How did you feel when Eliza had a second chance to experience love with Merrill? Did you believe in their friendship and then love aﬀair?Ĩ. Did you find it compelling? Do you believe she loved Max? Why or why not? Were you shocked by the twist in her ending?ħ. Varinka and Taras have a complicated relationship. How did you feel about her decisions? Did you agree with them? Why or why not?Ħ. Sofya had to make some impossible choices in the novel-choosing to leave her family, and then her child, in order to try to save them. Did you feel she was an important character in the story? What do you think of the author’s decision to open and close the novel with Luba’s voice?ĥ. Luba, whose name symbolizes love, is a key character in Lost Roses. What did you like/not like about their portrayal?Ĥ. Eliza’s real-life relationship with her daughter Caroline evolves over the course of the book. Caroline Ferriday, the protagonist of Lilac Girls, is a teenager in Lost Roses.

Were they both good mothers? In what ways? How did Sofya’s stepmother, Agnessa, aﬀect Sofya and Luba emotionally? How did their mother’s legacy play a continuing role in their lives?ģ. How did these relationships impact Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka’s lives? Compare Eliza’s mother to Varinka’s. Mother-daughter relationships play a vital role in Lost Roses. Who did you identify with most and why?Ģ. You meet three very different heroines in Lost Roses: Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka.

Lost roses