Literally Leander discussion

Our staff pick for June 2019 was Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen, a historical fiction set at the beginning of World War II. As always, there will be spoilers for the novel in this thread. Consider yourself warned!

This month, our prompt discussion questions (which you don't even have to answer, if you don't want to) were written by a staff member. But if you don't need prompts, we'd love to hear anything you have to say about this novel!

1. The book begins in 1939, at the start of World War II. How authentic did the setting feel?

2. What do you think of Sarah as the main character? How would you describe her?

3. After the death of Sarah’s mother, the author writes: “Her mother was gone. The absence, the hole that this left, was a wound, like the back of her mother’s head. Sarah’s existence felt dominated by that void. But this emptiness also meant her mother could make no more demands on her, could no longer control or endanger her. Sarah struggled with this sense of relief as it was swamped by guilt and ingratitude, before capsizing under the bitter weight of nothingness.” How would you describe the relationship between mother and daughter?

4. If you were in Sarah’s shoes, would you follow her same path and become a spy?

5. Sarah deals with many trials while at school, in the form of “the Ice Queen” Von Scharnhorst, the SA soldier Sturmbannführer Klaus Foch, the sadistic teacher Fräulein Langfeld, the general way the school is run, and more. Which person or thing do you think was the biggest obstacle for Sarah to overcome?

6. Sarah is often spurred into action by a voice in her head. At times, she’s not sure if it’s her own voice or her mother’s. Who do you think the voice belongs to?

We're looking forward to your discussion!

I don't know if I can even find the words to describe how much I LOVED Orphan Monster Spy. I'm re-posting a paragraph from my own review because I somehow managed to do a decent job once:

This book is beautiful, terrible, and all-consuming. I have always enjoyed history, but there's a special (albeit morbid) place in my heart for war histories. Of course we like to believe that we, as humans, are intelligent, logic, and overall gentle beings, but I can't help but be fascinated by how horrible humanity can be. There are many ways in which people have failed each other, but World War II--particularly the Nazi party and their ideals--are just old enough to feel like another world, but just recent enough to realize that we're still so easily swayed into acts of evil.

I've been to Germany, and while there I visited the Dachau concentration camp. The camp opened in 1933, soon after Hitler came into power, and continued operations through the end of the war in 1945. According to the Wikipedia page, the camp was one of the earliest ones and was the prototype for the camps that would be built later in the Nazi regime. It had an estimated 188,000 inmates, and somewhere around 41,500 of those were killed. Seeing that kind of horror with your own eyes--even sanitized by decades of acting as a museum--was absolutely heart-wrenching. We hear all of the terrible things that happened in history class, but to actually physically see where it was, see the tiny rooms with their tiny beds, their bathhouses, their crematoriums, makes one realize that all of this isn't so distant after all.

That's partially why I saved this quote from Matt Killeen's author's note: People often wonder how the German people allowed the Nazis to take power. They scoff at the idea that “innocent” Germans did not speak up. At some point, people say, they would have stood up, complained and protested about all those small incremental injustices that built up, until it was too late.
Right now, children care for adults, experience abuse, and go hungry. All that is required to make this stop is the will of enough people. Movements can and must start with just one person. Stand up, complain, and protest.

2. What do you think of Sarah as the main character? How would you describe her?
Sarah was an amazing main character. She is a layered heroine who is comprised of complicated emotions, gray morals, and a strong will for survival. Part of her was convenient (like her mother "training" her to become an actress, making her the perfect spy), but most of her was just so realistic. Sarah made a lot of hard decisions and pushed herself farther than she thought she could.

Now, this is a long quote, but I feel like it perfectly describes her humanity, her hardships, and her strengths all at once:

That special box deep within Sarah had started out tiny, like something her mother would keep expensive jewelry in. There had rarely been time to be frightened or cross in the past six years, since the National Socialists had come to power, so Sarah had locked each humiliation and injustice carefully inside. That way she was free of the dread and anger. But now the box was like a traveling trunk, varnish blistered and swollen, the wood turning green and the brass tarnished. The contents oozed under the lid and dripped down the sides. Worse still, she had begun to imagine herself becoming the box, with everything inside, everything she had hidden, free to slosh about inside her, ready to take shape and eat her alive.

3. After the death of Sarah’s mother, the author writes: “Her mother was gone. The absence, the hole that this left, was a wound, like the back of her mother’s head. Sarah’s existence felt dominated by that void. But this emptiness also meant her mother could make no more demands on her, could no longer control or endanger her. Sarah struggled with this sense of relief as it was swamped by guilt and ingratitude, before capsizing under the bitter weight of nothingness.” How would you describe the relationship between mother and daughter?
Sarah clearly has an issue with her mother, as noted early on in the novel. It seemed as though she blamed her for a lot of their hardships, and was disappointed in her for lacking that same survival sense that pushed Sarah so hard. Sarah became the levelheaded one, the one with the plan, which is a lot to ask out of a fifteen-year-old who isn't being singled out in a war bigger than herself.

But at the same time, Sarah loves her mother dearly. I think that this complicated facet of Sarah's life is just another reason why I liked her as a character. She loves her mother, and is broken by her loss. But realistically, she didn't always like her mother, and the seeds of that resentment still float through her mind every now and again.

4. If you were in Sarah’s shoes, would you follow her same path and become a spy?
I like to think that I would be brave like Sarah, that I would find meaning in a time that is so hard. Sarah is immediately drawn to the idea of working with the Captain, of making a difference, however small.

Unexpectedly, Sarah’s stomach danced, a happy little ripple of tingles like the night before a birthday. She felt she was betraying her mother, yet there it was. Excitement. The chance to do things. A place to be.

It's the same as when Divergent was at its peak and everyone was saying that they'd be in Dauntless, myself included. In reality, I probably would've happily chosen Erudite. The same can be said here: the truth is that I don't think I'm cut out to be a spy, especially the kind Sarah is: up close, personal, and in grievous danger the entire time.

6. Sarah is often spurred into action by a voice in her head. At times, she’s not sure if it’s her own voice or her mother’s. Who do you think the voice belongs to?
I like to think that it's Sarah's survival instinct mixed with the lessons she's learned, particularly those from her mother. I know that I talk to myself, mostly planning out what I'm going to say (or type, in this case.) It's ceaseless chatter for me, but I know it's me. I can't help but wonder if Sarah is lonely, and thus thinks of her inner voice as belonging to her mother, as a way to hold on to the person she's lost forever.