Belladonna

Throughout the novel, Signa sees Percy as a warm and loving person. How do these early depictions of Percy affect his later characterization or Signa’s judgments about her cousin? What is Percy’s wider significance in the text?

One of the main ways in which Grace displays the Victorian class system is through the differences between Signa and characters like Marjorie and Charlotte. How are class dynamics depicted in the novel? How do they intersect with other limitations, such as those associated with gender?

While Signa can see real ghosts, she is also haunted by ghosts of her past—whether they are alive or dead—such as her mother, her grandmother, and Charlotte. What effect do the people of Signa’s past have on her character development?

What are the Gothic elements in Belladonna? What is the effect of these elements in the novel in terms of setting, characterization, and/or themes?

Though it is the inciting action of the plot, the murder of Signa’s mother and her party guests is not brought up again in the novel. How does the absence of this fact influence your understanding of the other poisonings in Belladonna?

What does Signa’s relationship with Death reveal about her own ideas of death and the afterlife? How does her experience compare to other characters’ experiences of grief and loss?

Rage is often a central emotion of Gothic works that are written by women. In what ways is female rage expressed in Belladonna?

What is the symbolic significance of Lillian’s garden and her associations with nature? What is Lillian’s role in the text?