Book Club Questions

1. Each of the main characters in Confederate Gold is taking refuge in reenacting. Is it a blessing or an impediment for each of them? Do you find Civil War reenacting silly and offensive or an enriching hobby that educates others and pays tribute to our ancestors?

2. There is a complicated and evolving relationship between the male characters. Which men were your favorites and why? How does each of the men or boys take a leadership role at different times and in different ways?

3. Which women characters were your favorites and why? How did the women change as the story progressed? How do the women and men affect and change each other? Is the novel a love story as well as a thriller?

4. There are many side characters in the novel. Which one was your favorite and why: Sy Meyer, Hiram George, Julius Bohannon, Aunt April, or someone else? How did each of these characters contribute to the plot?

5. The two extremist groups are drawn large in the book but represent factions in our present-day society, people who feel alienated, used up, and forgotten by our economic system. Do you feel these characterizations are accurate? Do you know anyone who feels outraged at our society or economic system?

6. Did you see the portrayal of the Greek mobsters as steeped in stereotypes? Do you think there is organized crime in the South?

7. Racial tensions are portrayed in the novel both in an extreme manner of the Compatriots and Gabrielites willing to start race wars and in the nuanced playful banter of Powhatan. Do you see racial tensions in your own life? If so, do you feel they are the result of the legacy of slavery? Will there always be racism and classism?

8. The novel takes many twists and turns. Did you find the plot in the realm of possibility? Does the plot carry the characters through Richmond and its history in a plausible manner?

9. Civil War history is woven throughout the story. Was this a good way to bring the history to life or a distraction from the action? Do you agree or disagree with the way the author presented and analyzed the historical facts?

10. The setting of the novel is Richmond, Virginia. The author often refers to Richmond as the main character of the book. Did you feel the setting was effectively created? Did reading the book make you want to visit Richmond? Which historic sites and locations would you like to visit?

11. Charles Dickens thought Richmond was a vile place in 1842 because slavery was a sanctioned trade. Is there anything humans do today that might be considered vile in the course of history? How might someone visiting from another culture describe your community?

12. Bet Van Lew was a hero to some and a traitor to others. How does time affect people’s opinions of historical figures? Who is respected or disrespected today who may be viewed later in a different way?

13. The Civil War generals fought with Napoleonic tactics. How has war changed over the last 150 years? What do you think the author thinks about war? Is this an antiwar novel?

14. How do you feel about preserving Civil War battlefield land? Should we develop the land as a way to put the war behind us, or should we save it as a way to jog our national memory of the United States’s defining event? Is saving Civil War battlefield land equivalent to saving Civil War monuments?

15. At the end of the book, Raleigh says, “It’s never going to be over.” Do you believe that is true? Will the Civil War continue to be relevant to our lives and our society?