Banyan Moon

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. This novel engages the topic of mother-daughter relationships. Why do you think this is such a pervasive topic in literature, and how does that topic iterate itself here? Did you find this relationship relatable or realistic as it is portrayed in the novel?

2. After Xuân’s death, Minh keeps his knife, which helps to keep her safe emotionally and later physically. Have you kept any mementos of loved ones who have passed on? What do these objects mean to you?

3. How do you feel about the characters’ morally grey actions, like Minh killing Vinh, or Ann burning the photograph of Bình and keeping Minh’s secret about who Hương’s father is? How do these moments affect your opinion of their characters? Do you understand or sympathize with their actions? What would you do in their place?

4. Which of the three generations of women did you relate to most? Why? Was this also the perspective you found most interesting?

5. Are you satisfied by the ending of the novel? How and why do you think the novel deploys narrative resolutions that might not be entirely satisfying? For instance, the lack of repercussions following Phước’s destruction of Banyan House?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. How does gender affect the novel’s action and the experiences of the characters—for instance, how characters interact with pregnancy, the pressure Hương feels to provide Ann with a father, and Phước’s anger at his mother for not leaving the house to him? How are these gendered dynamics presented intersectionally, given that Ann and her family are Vietnamese?

2. Minh’s memories take place during the United States' incursion into South Vietnam. How do her memories portray this historical event? How does the novel depict the ways a historical event can linger in the consciousness or subconsciousness of subsequent generations? What are the real-world implications of such perspectives on intergenerational trauma?

3. How does the novel use (or subvert) the genre of Southern Gothic to comment on anti-Asian racism? Do you think the novel’s use of this genre for this purpose was effective?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. This novel has elements of various genres: historical fiction, Southern Gothic, intergenerational saga, crime, and fantasy or magical realism. What elements of these genres can you identify within the novel, and how do they affect narrative elements like characterization, plot, and theme? Can you find other genres at work in the novel?

2. What is the significance of the recurring motif of fire in the novel, especially as it relates to the destruction of knowledge (for better or worse) and new beginnings?

3. Discuss water and the ocean as both a symbol and a setting in the novel. What do bodies of water symbolize? Further, how do they participate in the events of the novel and the establishment of the Southern environment?

4. How does haunting work both literally and metaphorically in this novel? Consider how it informs plot, character, historical world-building, and more.

5. Why is it important that this novel have perspective chapters for all three main Tran women? Why is this relevant to the novel’s themes and message?