Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors - Book Club Discussion Questions

Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors is a fictional story surrounding the building of the Taj Mahal. While historians agree that the Taj Mahal was built by an emperor in the seventeenth century who was grieving the loss of his wife, the true details surrounding this story have been lost. Shors imagines them in Beneath a Marble Sky, bringing to life a story of love, war, beauty and tragedy. Use these book club discussion questions on Beneath a Marble Sky to lead your book club is examining the questions Shors presents.

Spoiler Warning: These book club discussion questions reveal important details about Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors. Finish the book before reading on.

1. Beneath a Marble Sky starts when Princess Jahanara is old. She is living in secret, and telling her story to her granddaughters for the first time. The reader is told that Aurangzeb, her brother, is the emperor. Why do you think Shors chose to reveal these details from the beginning of the story? How does knowing them up front change your experience of the story? How does Shors manage to create suspense despite the fact that readers know the ultimate outcome for Jahanara, Aurangzeb, Nizam and the empire?
   
   
2. How is Jahanara influenced by her parents' love? Does she find an equal love in Isa?
   
   
3. Why do you think Aurangezeb was so different from Jahanara, Dara and their parents?
   
   
4. Do you think Jahanara should have let the cobra kill Aurangzeb? Why didn't she? What was the cost of her decision?
   
   
5. What role does friendship and loyalty play in the story? Who are the heroes? What do they stand for?
   
   
6. Beneath a Marble Sky seems to present a certain view of morality and religion where love trumps traditional rules and customs. Discuss a few examples of characters acting against the rules in the name of love and whether you think they were justified:
   • Ladli has sex with Aurangezeb and publicly renounces her religion in order to learn his secrets and help Princess Jahanara and possibly the empire. Was this the right decision?
     
     
   • Princess Jahanara commits adultery in order to pursue her true love, Isa. Was this justified?
     
     
   • Jahanara and her daughter lie to her granddaughters in order to protect them from knowledge they deemed dangerous. Was that a wise decision?
     
     
   • Can you think of other examples when characters bent the rules in the name of something good?
   
   
   
7. What is the significance of setting this story during the building of the Taj Mahal? What does the Taj Mahal represent?
   
   
8. Do you think Jahanara was right to stay with her family when Isa and her daughter fled the city?
   
   
9. After being reunited with her family five years later, she returns to Agra to see her father? Would you have made the same decision? Why did she return? Was it a wise decision in the end?
   
   
10. Is Dara's vision of Muslims and Hindus peacefully co-existing fulfilled in the fishing village in the end? Do you think it could last? Is the secret to harmony, as Dara maintains, understanding each other?
    
    
11. Rate Beneath a Marble Sky on a scale of 1 to 5.