Our Country Friends

The black pickup truck is the most important symbol in the novel. How does the truck serve as a villain throughout the novel, and how does the revelation that the driver is merely a fan of the Actor change its purpose in the novel?

Compare and contrast the roles Masha and Karen play in Nat’s life.

Isolation and loneliness abound in Our Country Friends. How does the author reveal the characters’ feelings of isolation through the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Parents’ treatment of their children and the lasting impact it has on them is a central theme of the novel. Choose two characters and compare their parents’ influence on them and explain how their legacy impacts their decisions.

Our Country Friends is described as one of the first “pandemic” novels by reviewers. Aside from the actual setting of the pandemic, what themes and other qualities make Our Country Friends a pandemic novel?

In what ways is the divide between the town residents and the city visitors explored in the novel, and why is Dee Cameron such an important character in terms of understanding the tension between these groups?

The Actor is the closest character Our Country Friends has to an antagonist. How do his manipulations sow discontent among the guests, and what catalyzes his transformation into a different person at the conclusion of the novel?

Choose two of the bungalows and compare their design and layout. Analyze what they mean to Senderovsky and why he places certain characters in each.