Bookclub-In-A-Box: A Complicated Kindness

In her award-winning novel, A Complicated Kindness, Miriam Toews describes a community where individual skills and emotions are held in strict check by the Mennonite leadership of the town. Bookclub-in-a-Box guides the reader into this little known world with notes on the history and philosophy of the Mennonite faith, interesting facts about the author, and an in-depth look at the novel's themes and the sole narrator, sixteen-year-old Nomi Nickel.With Bookclub-in-a-Box, the reader will consider the following:* Why this novel, with its teenage narrator, successfully crosses the line from teen into adult fiction.* How the novel’s tone and mood is set by Nomi’s cutting sarcasm, and why the author has chosen to tell this sad story with humor.* The relevance of the book’s title as Nomi measures everything in her life as either complicated or uncomplicated.* How the characters struggle with and against the boundaries of their fixed and demanding cultural environment.The Bookclub-in-a-Box guide will inspire the reader to ask new questions about faith, transgression, forgiveness, and redemption. By exploring the novel’s framework, the reader can consider how Toews' observations apply to other communities and religions.Every Bookclub-in-a-Box discussion guide includes complete coverage of the themes and symbols, writing style and interesting background information on the novel and the author, as well as a complementary RAG (Read-Along-Guide), a quick reference pamphlet offering interesting facts and questions to consider while reading the novel.