One character, Ksyusha, feels torn between her Russian boyfriend, Ruslan, and the boy from her dance troupe, Chander. Did you see parallels between the issues facing indigenous communities depicted in this book and those in North America?. Are there certain examples that stand out to you? Gender and power dynamics play a role in many of these characters’ stories. Why do Alla and her other daughter, Natasha, have different ideas about the way Lilia disappeared? Alla Innokentevna is deeply affected by her daughter Lilia’s disappearance. How does the author address the concept of “the other” in both the relationships and setting of the story? What did you make of the way some characters grappled with xenophobia within their communities?. At one point, one of Zoya’s friends tells her, “It’s only after Kamchatka opened to outsiders that we started to see any crime.” Why does this make her uncomfortable?. What did you make of the way Lilia is described? Why does her disappearance seem to be forgotten by some members of the community?. When observing the abundance of attention the police give to the sisters’ disappearance in comparison to Lilia, Phillips writes that Chander is onto a “deep common knowledge, an ache that was native.” What is the author referring to?. What did you make of their efforts to identify the suspect by ethnicity early on? The officials tasked with investigating the disappearance of the Golosovsky sisters ask several times if the suspect was Tajik, even though the witness can’t recall. 
Does the geography of Kamchatka play a part in some residents’ attitudes toward outsiders?.How does setting and place play a role in this story? What did you think of the way Phillips describes Kamchatka?.
WARNING: Spoiler alert on questions further down Phillips will answer reader questions on the PBS NewsHour broadcast at the end of the month. You can also submit your own questions for Julia Phillips on our Google form. Learn more about the book club here.īelow are questions to help guide your discussions as you read the book over the next month. Our April 2020 pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club is Julia Phillips’ “Disappearing Earth.” Become a member of the Now Read This book club by joining our Facebook group, or by signing up to our newsletter.
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