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The Mapmaker’s Daughter – Reading Guide

Book club questions for The Mapmaker’s Daughter by Katherine Nouri Hughes

  1. If you had to boil it down to a single thing, what would you say The Mapmaker’s Daughter is about?
  2. What do you think is Nurbanu’s aim in telling her story?
  3. What do you consider the most visually vivid passages? Why?
  4. Why do you think the book’s title is The Mapmaker’s Daughter?
  5. What impact does the city/Republic of Venice have on Cecilia as a child and on Nurbanu as a woman?
  6. Who among the young Nurbanu/Cecilia family do you think had the greatest influence on her? Why?
  7. Why is Suleiman so taken with Cecilia/Nurbanu when he first meets her?
  8. Why does Suleiman assign Cecilia/Nurbanu to his son Mehmed? Later, why does he assign her to his son Selim?
  9. Do you feel that you know Nurbanu? If so why? If not why not?
  10. What do you consider Nurbanu’s three most salient qualities?
  11. How would you characterize Safiye?
  12. How would you describe Nurbanu’s relationship with Esther?
  13. Do you consider Nurbanu to be a good mother? Why or why not?
  14. Why do you think Nurbanu made the decision about the Boys that she did?
  15. Do you consider Nurbanu to be a moral person? Why or why not?

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