1. Revolution is in the title of this book and it’s a central theme through the story. Maynard is against revolution, instead believing that the problems in the system can be fixed. Evolution avoids violence and bloodshed. What did you make of the revolutionary themes in the book?
2. On page 97 Maynard says: “… I want to be rich. You see it’s the only way to talk sense and have people pay attention. The power brokers … only listen to their own type. You have to wear the right clothes, belong to the right clubs …” What did you think about Maynard’s personal relationship to money and his financial situation, privileges, investing, gambling and being against thriftiness?
3. What do you make of Lydia and Maynard’s relationship? What was the attraction of this unusual pairing? Did you think it would last the distance?
4. Lydia’s ostracisation and loneliness was heart-breaking at times – a fish out of water? What did you feel about the different characters’ reactions to her and views of her?
5. What was your opinion of Bloomsbury – especially Vanessa and Virginia? Why did they resent the arrival of Lydia so much?
6. There are many powerful passages in the book – for example page 104. “Wasted lives more than anything. And wrong headedness and wrong headed decisions that waste lives. Wasted potential – lives that do not meet their purpose. And ensuring possibility for individual flourishing, which is what we mean by civilisation: that at least the possibility is preserved.” In this moving passage it feels like the author’s perspective shining out through Maynard’s character. How does this relate to the wider themes of the book?
7. Why was returning to the gold standard so bad and why was it fought for by the establishment?
8. There is a fascinating chapter with Niemeyer and Maynard at the Treasury. What did you make of the role and power of the civil service and how dark and threatening it became?
9. In the endnote, the author describes her initial book idea about domestic service. How did you find the characters of the servants and also the appearance of the two workers in the pub and references to the coal mining communities of Wales and the North of England?
10. What are the parallels with the economic and political situation now? How would Maynard see the rise of populism and the challenges of a post-Covid world?
Thank you to Rajni Sharma for providing these questions.