Book club questions for Queen for a Day by Maxine Rosaler
- Mimi’s character is very much identified by her strong feelings of love and her strong feelings of hate. Why it that sometimes these feelings lead her to take action, but sometimes they overwhelm her so much they render her incapable of action?
- Teresa Thompson is the main villain of Queen for a Day. However, she is also a devoted mother. Do you feel that Teresa’s virtues as a mother have the effect of making the reader more sympathetic toward her?
- Rosaler’s decision to characterize the local school districts and the Department of Education with the term “The District” embues these bureaucratic entities with a monolithic quality. Why do you think Rosaler made this choice? And describe your perceptions of The District, as she portrays it in her novel.
- Mimi appears to be ambivalent about her identification with Judaism and her belief in God. Yet, in “A Sample Boy,” she is devastated when her old landlord declares his loss of faith in God because of the death of his daughter. Why does she feel this way, given her own lack of faith? And how does her reaction to Mr. Gotbaum’s loss of faith relate to her feelings about Danny and her fears for him?
- Mimi’s overwhelming feelings of despair are described in detail throughout the book. Yet eventually, in one way or another, she manages to rise above these feelings. What it is about Mimi that enables her to eventually overcome her despair?
- Humor, most of it rather black, and irony run through all the stories in Queen for Day. In some more than others. What role, from both an artistic and thematic perspective, do you think humor plays in the book?
- In the title story, “Queen for a Day,” Amy decides to leave her family to go off to paint. Yet Mimi is certain she will come back. Why is Mimi so sure that Amy will return to her family?
- Discuss how and why Mimi’s feelings about the characters Yolanda in “Yolanda” and toward Aviva Brodner in “Two Mothers” and “This Time Next Year” change in the course of her interactions with them.
- The other characters in the book evoke strong feelings in Mimi–she hates them; she loves them. Do you as a reader have a similar range of reactions? If so, which characters did you love, which ones did you hate, and why?
- Denial and wishful thinking play a large role in Queen for a Day–most obviously in the first chapter, but also later on for Mimi and Aviva Brodner in “Two Mothers.” Why do these women insist on holding on to their illusions? Is it possible that their illusions are sometimes useful to them, beyond making them feel less frightened for a while?
- Mimi is often impatient with Danny. She hits him, she yells at him, she curses him, in “Route 94,” she bites him. Yet she fights for him and she often spends every waking hour worrying and scheming on his behalf. And there is no doubt that she loves her son. Is she a good mother? Does it seem realistic that these two kinds of behavior can be found in the same person?