All These Things I’ve Done: Questions for Discussion
1) The future setting. Why do you think the author chooses to set the book in the future? How does the future of the novel compare to our own world?
2) How does it make you feel that the character of the grandmother, Nana, was born in the 1995? Discuss Nana’s character.
3) Why do you think chocolate is illegal in the book? Think about the scene where Anya’s teacher discusses Prohibition.
4) Discuss the names in the book: Mrs. Cobrawick, Anya Balanchine, Gable Arsley, Goodwin Delacroix, etc. How do the names inform the characterization?
5) Anya attends a Catholic school and often goes to Confession. How do you think religion functions in her life?
6) Anya and her siblings. How does the relationship between Anya and Natty differ from the relationship between Anya and Leo? Why do you think birth order matters in the book?
7) What do you think will happen after Anya leaves Liberty?
8) Discuss the title. How might it be ironic? (Anya feels guilty all the time, but she hasn’t really done anything wrong. She is imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit, etc.)