Earl Crush
Book Club Guide
Discussion Questions:
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Earl Crush is the second in the Belvoir’s Library trilogy. Did you read Ne’er Duke Well, the first book in the series, before this one? If so, how did the events of Ne’er Duke Well affect your reading experience? If not, did this make you want to go back and read Selina’s story?
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Lydia’s social anxiety affects her self-perception as well as her relationships with other people. How does she change over the course of the book? In what ways does she not change? How does Arthur help her grow?
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How does Lydia’s gender affect the way that she engages with her political passions? Did her approach feel realistic to you—both for the time and for her personality?
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Arthur and Lydia differ in their attitudes toward social change. Lydia employs the written word for her more widespread activism, while Arthur is focused on direct action in his own community. Do either of these approaches resonate more with you?
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How did the snippets from Arthur’s unsent letters affect your reading experience? What did they help you understand about Arthur’s personality and his feelings? Do you enjoy epistolary elements in novels?
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This book is full of brothers! What role does family plays in the novel? Do you enjoy a series that explores the stories of several different siblings? Which side characters do you think should get their own books?
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Why do you think Arthur abandons Lydia in London and runs back to Scotland? What did he need to learn in his conversation with Bertie before he could confess his feelings?
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Davis! Did you love him? Hate him? Were you surprised by the various revelations about Davis in the last few chapters? Were you satisfied by his redemption arc?
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Earl Crush incorporates a number of real historical events, including an attempted assassination of the Duke of Wellington foiled by a Scottish aristocrat. Do you like books that incorporate real history? Were you surprised to find out that some of these events were real?
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The zebras too are historical—drawn from a real nineteenth-century earl’s menagerie! The zebras obviously provide humor in the book, but could they also be a metaphor for Lydia’s and Arthur’s understandings of themselves? In what ways?
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Further Reading & Fun Links:
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View the full menagerie list for the 13th Earl of Derby (1775-1851)