TIME’S UNDOING by Cheryl A. Head Discussion Questions
1. The opening scene between Cress and the detective starts the book out on an action-packed note. What did you think when you first read it? How does it set up the book? 2. We first meet Meghan at a funeral—her “fifth funeral in six months”, then in conversation with her grandmother, then in her editorial meeting at her newspaper. What do these three scenes tell the reader about Meghan's character? 3. The motto of the newspaper Awaken is “Progress Doesn’t Happen While You Sleep,” which reminds Meghan of the BLM movement’s phrase “stay woke.” How does this book compare and contrast the movements of the past and present? 4. Robert takes a lot of pride in his Franklin. What does the car symbolize to his character and to the story? 5. Birmingham is a city with dark history. “Birmingham wants to protect its reputation. I believe in the new South but not every city can easily catch up to the future, and every place has to reckon with its past. No matter how much things change, secrets will bubble up through the ground. One of my jazz pals always used to say, ‘the earth holds all the dirt.’” How do the modern citizens’ desire to either explore or hide that history manifest in this story? 6. Even in the Jim Crow south, the Black population found ways to build robust and meaningful lives. What were the institutions and traditions that allowed Robert and Anna Kate to have endurance, creativity and faith in the face of segregation and race hatred?