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1. All the characters begin the book standing
on different lake shores—Nina at Lake Baikal, Anneliese at Altaussee,
Jordan at Selkie Lake, and Ian at the lake in Cologne. Nina and the
Huntress clash for the first time at Lake Rusalka in Poland, and
everyone comes together ultimately at the lake in Massachusetts. Discuss
how the idea of the lake, and the rusalka lake spirit, weaves through
The Huntress as a theme.
2. Ian states that the life of a Nazi hunter is about patience, boredom,
and fact checking, not high-speed glamour and action. Do you agree with
him? What preconceptions did you have about Nazi hunters?
3. Jordan’s drive to become a photographer clashes with the expectations
of her father—and almost everyone else she knows—that she will marry her
high school boyfriend, work in the family business, and relegate
picture-snapping to a hobby. How have expectations of career versus
marriage changed for women since 1950?
4. The Night Witches earn their nickname from the Germans, who find
their relentless drive on bombing runs terrifying, but the men on their
own side haze them, mock them, and call them "little princesses." How
does prejudice and misogyny drive the women of the Forty-Sixth to
succeed? Did you know anything about the Night Witches before reading
The Huntress?
5. Nina calls herself a savage because of her early life in the wilds
around the lake with her murderous, unpredictable father. How did her
upbringing equip her to succeed, first as a bomber pilot and then as a
fugitive on the run? Does her outsider status make her see Soviet
oppression more clearly than Yelena, who accepts it as the way things
should be?
6. When Jordan first brings up suspicions about her stepmother at
Thanksgiving, her theories are quashed by Anneliese’s plausible
explanations. Did you believe Anneliese’s story at Thanksgiving, or
Jordan’s instinct? When did you realize that Jordan’s stepmother and die
Jagerin were one and the same?
7. "The ends justify the means." Ian disagrees strongly, maintaining he
will not use violence to pursue war criminals. Nina, on the other hand,
has no problem employing violent methods to reach a target, and Tony
stands somewhere between them on the ideological scale. How do their
beliefs change as they work together? Who do you think is right?
8. Ian and Nina talk about lakes and parachutes, referencing the bad
dreams and postwar baggage that inevitably come to those who have gone
to war. How do Ian and Tony deal with their post-traumatic stress
disorder and survivor guilt, as opposed to Nina and the Night Witches?
9. Throughout The Huntress, war criminals attempt to justify
their crimes: Anneliese tells Jordan she killed as an act of mercy, and
several witnesses tell Ian they were either acting under orders or
ignorant of what was happening. Why do they feel the need to justify
their actions, even if only to themselves? Do you think any of them are
aware deep down that they committed evil acts, or are they all in
denial?
10. Jordan sincerely comes to love Anneliese, who is not just her
stepmother but her friend. After learning the truth about Anneliese’s
past, Jordan is perturbed that she cannot simply switch off her
affection for the one person who encouraged her to chase her dreams. How
do you think you would react if you found out a beloved family member
was a murderer and a war criminal?
11. In the final confrontation at Selkie Lake, the team is able to
capture Anna instead of killing her or allowing her to commit suicide,
and she later faces a lifetime in prison for war crimes. Were you
satisfied with her fate, or do you wish she had paid a higher price for
her actions?
12. By the end of The Huntress, Jordan has found success as a
photographer, Tony is a human rights attorney, and Ian and Nina are
still hunting war criminals. Where do you see the team in ten years? Do
you think Ian and Nina will remain married, or will Nina find a way back
to Yelena, her first love? Do you think Jordan and Tony will stay
together, or drift apart as friends? What about Ruth?
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