Book Club Questions

Georgia sailed across the Atlantic to a strange land. Tell of a time you’ve had to venture out into the unknown. Were you nervous? Excited? Scared?

Pink is Georgia’s shield against her past hurts. What defense mechanisms do you use (or have used) to distance yourself from being emotionally wounded? 

Initially, Harrison assumes Georgia was “high-in-the-instep” or self-absorbed. Has there been a time when you judged someone unfairly? How did you recognize the misconception?

Georgia sought her mother and sisters’ approval, hoping to gain their love. How did learning God loved her unconditionally change her goals and feelings toward her family?

Do you believe God would pursue you across an ocean? How do the words of Psalm 139: 7-10 influence you: “Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” (NIV)

Georgia felt abandoned by her father. How was God able to restore their relationship? Have you ever struggled with feelings of abandonment? Have you had any success with reconciliation?

Max told Georgia that God filled the hole in his heart after his mother died. Georgia reflected on how she’d pushed God away instead of allowing him to fill her emptiness. Have you struggled with loss? Do you believe God can fill the hole of loss? If so, who has God brought into your life to help you heal? Have you allowed God in to help mend the ache?

At the docks, when Harrison and Max were about to board the Essex for England, Harrison asked Georgia to come with him. Even though she loves Harrison, she turns him down to stay with her father. How does this sacrifice reveal the change in Georgia’s nature?

After Julian, the Earl of Claremont, arrived in Nevis, Georgia pushed her parasol (her last pink item) into his chest and walked away with a sense of freedom. How did she realize the color pink had changed from a security blanket into a bond she needed to free herself from?

During their wedding reception, Harrison discovers Georgia and Max fishing, and he realizes that sometimes life chooses for you. Sometimes you weigh your options and make the best decision possible. But other times, something you never would have chosen blesses you in a way you never would have expected. How has God surprised you with a blessing you might not have chosen or expected?

Priscilla found truth in Proverbs 13:20, “A companion of fools suffers harm.” Have you ever found yourself pulled into a debacle you hadn’t expected? Were you able to learn from the experience?

Priscilla sees herself as having been abducted when Captain Prescott refuses to turn the ship around, whereas Captain Prescott sees Pricilla as an unwanted stowaway. Tell of a time your line of thinking conflicted with another person’s opinion. Were you able to see the other person’s perspective, have them see yours, or meet somewhere in the middle?

Do you have an irrational fear? (Mine is spiders, which I try to hide so my three boys so they don’t play practical jokes on me.) How has your fear hindered you? Read 2 Timothy 1:7. If God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, do you think we can overcome our irrational fears? If so, how?

Captain Prescott was of a singular mind in getting his ship to its destination. Has God ever disrupted your particular mindset or changed your destination? If so, how and when?

Priscilla wanted to go home so badly that she neglected Captain Prescott’s commands. Have you ever thought your way was better than God’s ways or those in authority over you? How did it turn out?

To reassure Priscilla that even though her parents might have forgotten about her, God hasn’t, Tobias mentions the Bible story where David’s father, Jesse, had forgotten about David in the fields when the prophet Samuel came to anoint one of Jesse’s children. Jesse never expected his youngest sheep-herding son to be king. Has God used anyone unexpected in your life to accomplish His will or sent someone who felt like a hindrance but was a blessing in hindsight?

Priscilla hears from God through nature. Is there a way that God speaks to you more than others, for example, through others, nature, scripture, or worship?

Many British soldiers died needlessly in the Battle of New Orleans even though a peace treaty had already been established between England and America. Word never reached the commanders in time. Under the command of General Jackson, with the help of frontiersmen, Indians, and even pirates (including Jean Lafitte, written about in The Merchant’s Yield), the Americans beat back the British troops. If Tobias had fulfilled his mission and joined the British naval fighting, he and his crew likely would have died. Have you ever thanked God for the times you might not have known He saved you from disaster? Or have you had any close calls where you thanked God for his intervention?

Tobias talks about Annie and how he had to trust God to avenge her death. How do we let go and let God handle our need for justice? Can you give examples from your own life?

Priscilla doesn’t know if anyone would even notice her disappearance, but when they find Maggie, Priscilla witnesses how God will leave the ninety-nine to go after the one lost sheep. Have you ever felt lost or forgotten until you realized God had a bigger plan?

Miss Dodd wasn’t whom she seemed. Have you ever misjudged someone? How were you able to rectify the situation?

God impresses upon Tobias, Go after my lamb. We may not be able to do for all, but we can do for one.Is there someone God has put in your life that you feel compelled to go after?

Katherine feels the weight of responsibility for managing her family’s holdings. Have you had a time when you felt burdened under the weight of responsibility? If so, how did you handle it?

Katherine’s cousin, Horace, asks her, “Do you remember what it was like to be carefree?” Have you ever been lured into a false sense of security? How strong was the temptation to have someone else solve your problems? How can we combat the idol of comfort or pleasure in our lives?

Horace liked to poke at past wounds to manipulate Katherine. “Besides, who else is going to have you since the Turner boy backed out?” Has there been a time when others or negative self-talk liked to remind you of your weaknesses? How have you overcome it? What resources do you use to combat the negative voices? What does the Bible say about how God sees you?

Stephen thinks he has life all figured out. He’ll marry Julia, have a brood of children, and run Willowstone Farm with his supplemented income from training horses. Kate then appears in his life. Have you ever thought your plans were the best, and then God changed them? How did you handle the situation?

Katherine panics when Lady Felton asks for her name, allowing a mistruth to be believed. How does her mistruth escalate her problems? Has there been a time when you held back speaking the whole truth? Would it have been easier to have told the full truth from the start? How is speaking the truth a test of your faith?

Stephen talks about the Bible story of Samson regaining his strength, but Samson never regains his eyesight, and Stephen equates it with the law of physics and God’s moral law. “If we step out a second-story window, we expect to hit the ground, but how many times have we sinned and expected to get away with it?” Have you tried to justify or talk your way out of negative consequences? How does knowing that God is forgiving and that although there are consequences, Jesus’s blood covers our sins change your worldview?

Stephen’s unforgiveness of his deceased aunt for the pain she caused his family, including his father’s leg injury, kept Katherine from revealing the truth of her identity. In what ways does unforgiveness hold people back?

When Lord Pewitt appeared at Willowstone Farm asking about Katherine, Katherine ran instead of trusting God with her situation. How does the Bible story of the fiery furnace with Shadrach Meshach and Abednego change her thinking? Tell of a time you had to step out in faith and trust God had you.