Canongate's questions for discussion about
The Earth Hums in B Flat

1. In The Earth Hums in B Flat we see everything through Gwenni’s eyes. How trustworthy a narrator is she?

2. Does The Earth Hums in B Flat explore specifically the Welsh psyche, or do you think the story could have been set anywhere?

3. Which of the two sisters do you think will be the most affected as they grow up by the revelations in the book? Which of them will cope best?

4. Is Gwenni’s flying an escape strategy? Or does she really fly? How does what you think change the story?

5. The ending is ambiguous in several ways. Do you think Gwenni is a highly imaginative, slightly obsessive child, or has she inherited her mother’s bipolar disorder?

6. The diagnosis and medical treatment of mental illness has advanced greatly in the last fifty years. How far forward do you think society has advanced in the way mental illness is viewed?

7. The characters in The Earth Hums in B Flat all speak in Welsh, with only a couple of exceptions. Was this a surprise? How did it affect your reading of the book?

8. How difficult is it for younger readers to appreciate how different life was for children in the 1950s, when children were ‘seen and not heard’?

9. To what extent does Magda’s illness affect her relationship with other people, especially Emlyn and Gwenni? What part does her innate character play in her behaviour?

10. People in the book keep secrets from one another, and certainly from children. Is this a good idea, or is it better always to have things out in the open?

11. The past, in the form of the World Wars and family history, casts a long shadow over the characters in The Earth Hums in B Flat. Is it ever desirable, or even possible, to escape our pasts?

12. How important are books to Gwenni? Is she able to learn everything she needs from them? Is it possible for anyone to do that?

13. Gwenni is reluctant to grow up. Why do you think this is? How do your memories of your life at twelve and a half compare to Gwenni’s reality - were you reluctant or eager to grow up?

14. Gwenni has complex feelings about food. Why do you think that is? Do you have strong memories of the food you ate as children?

15. Alwenna tells Gwenni that her father was considered a saint for having stayed with Magda after the war. Is it true that Emlyn is a saint or is he simply a good, kind man out of his depth in the situation in which he finds himself and therefore ineffectual?

16. The Earth Hums in B Flat has many minor characters who support the main cast. Which of these minor characters is your favourite, and why?

17. Most of the main characters in The Earth Hums in B Flat are women. They seem to be the ones who run things. Was that really how it was, do you think, or is it only how it seems from Gwenni’s viewpoint?

18. Gwenni takes for granted the place of the Chapel in her life. Which aspect of Chapel do you think plays the greatest part in her life – the social, the spiritual, the religious?

19. Reviewers have found The Earth Hums in B Flat both funny and sad. How do these elements work together in the book? Is it an effective combination?



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