The Farming Of Bones

Why is Amabelle reticent to reply to Sebastien when he asks about her father in Chapter 7?

Amabelle says, “There are times when I want to be a girl again, to touch this doll, because when I touch it, I feel nearer to my mother than when her flesh is stroking mine” (57). Why might touching the doll make her feel a more intimate connection to her mother than touching her mother would?

Why are Juana and Amabelle willing to sleep in the same house as “the dead child,” but not Sebastien (104)? In what ways are men and women in this novel expected to act differently in regard to death?

Why does Kongo dislike Félice so much?

Why do the chapters lengthen towards the second half of the novel? How does this change in chapter structure speak to other elements of the book, such as plot and theme?

Why does Henry I’s Citadel play such an important role in Amabelle’s imagination and life? How does Henry I’s narrative parallel Amabelle’s?

What is the significance of Amabelle’s dream about the sugar woman in Chapter 23?

Discuss the significance of the novel’s title.