This reader's guide might seem a little different...I wrote the guide myself, from an author's point of view. These are the sorts of questions that writers raise in their workshops. I'm indebted to my own writer's group, Wolfwriters, led by my writing coach, Michael Wolf, for some of the topics below. ---John Speed

Poison

From the first line of the The Temple Dancer to the final scene, poison plays a central role. How many different ways to the characters use arsenic?
For some characters, poison represents power. In what ways does simply possessing a poison affect their actions? What other poisons are at work as the story unfolds?

Dharma

The author says that the Hindu concept of Dharma figures highly in The Temple Dancer. Dharma is "individual conformity with the principles that govern the universe." Dharma doesn't necessarily mean "goodness" in the typcial sense. The dharma of a thief might be to steal; the dharma of a policeman to stop the theft. Part of the human condition is to try to understand one's dharma and apply every effort to manifesting it sincerely.
Which Temple Dancer characters follow a path of dharma? How do their fates differ from those that fail to follow dharma? Does a character's dharma change as the story progresses?

Evil

Evil plays a key role in the action of The Temple Dancer. How does evil differ from misfortune? Which characters are truly evil? Which characters are most affected by evil?

Injustice

Judith Merkle Riley observed that The Temple Dancer is the story of two women who face injustice and find a way to triumph. Do you agree?
Which other characters face injustice? How do they react? Which ones triumph?

Culture & Class

Some of the cultures and classes of The Temple Dancer are obvious: Hindus, Muslims, Portuguese; rich and poor; men, women, eunuchs. Others are less clear: classes defined by family, vocation, and so on.
As you read The Temple Dancer, what classes and cultures did you encounter that were new to you? Which seemed familiar?
Most Temple Dancer characters fall into numerous classes. How do the cross currents of class and culture affect their interactions?

Growth and Change

All the primary Temple Dancer characters are transformed. Which characters grow, and which merely change?
Which character do you believe undergoes the biggest transformation? What accounts for this change? Will the change be permanent?

Women

Women are often seen as passive, but in The Temple Dancer, women take active roles.
How do the actions the of women characters compare to those of the men? In what ways are the women more restrained? More free?
When she reviewed one of his earlier works, Speed's agent, Jean Naggar, complained that "those women are made of cardboard!" Speed says he felt compelled to write The Temple Dancer in part to prove that he could write "believable women". Can any man really write "believable women"?
How well does Speed manage to accurately reflect the thoughts and feelings of women?

Title

The Temple Dancer went through a number of title changes. Some of the earlier titles considered were: The Settlement Man, Poison, Web of Light, and Bijapur. How does a title affect a story? How would The Temple Dancer seem different with one of the rejected titles?

Thinking & Sensing

Novelists use Point of View (POV) to guide the reader through a story. In The Temple Dancer the author carefully chooses which characters think, and which characters sense. With Da Gama and Lucinda, for example, the story describes both their thoughts and their sensations (what they see, hear, etc.). Some characters have their thoughts described but not their sensations; others have sensations but no thoughts.
How do you think the author chose the characters that would think and those that would sense? How do those choices affect how the story is told? Would the story be different if the it were told from the point of view of Geraldo and Pathan?
What about Maya? She first expresses her thoughts quite late in the story. Why did the author choose that moment to begin to reveal her thoughts?

The Influence of Theatre

John Speed was an actor and a playwright before becoming a novelist. He says he was inspired by Shakespeare's history plays, which borrow freely from other sources. Can you identify books, plays, or movies that might have influenced him as he wrote The Temple Dancer?
Speed says he writes dialogue the way a playwright does:
Dramatic dialogue focuses on beats...a beat comes whenever a character's intention changes. By paying close attention to subtle changes in their motivation, the dialogue of characters becomes involving.
Can you identify other examples of the author's use of 'beats' to heighten the drama of the story?