The Woman Who Heard Color (49 page)

 

 

6. How would you describe Hanna’s role in cataloguing the confiscated art? Why does she agree to work with the Nazis in this endeavor, and how does she reconcile her complicity with her feelings of disgust? Does she have a choice? What are the consequences of her decision?

 

 

7. Though Hanna leaves Germany in 1939, before the start of World War II, do you see anything in her story, particularly relating to her involvement with the art, that might foreshadow the historical events that follow?

 

 

8. Some of those purchasing art at the auction in Lucerne come to save it, others to pick up a bargain. Do you believe these buyers realized the funds would be diverted from the museums to build up Hitler’s military strength? Should they have avoided the auction in protest? Why or why not? Do you believe the German museums should be able to reclaim this art?

 

 

9. Why is Hanna’s legacy so important to Isabella as an adult? How does Lauren play a critical part in preserving Hanna’s story and allowing her heroics to live on?

 

 

10. At one point in the story, Isabella says, “So much family history is lost just because no one listens . . . Or when it’s never even told.” Lauren agrees yet has always been reluctant to ask her father about his own history. Do you think Lauren will eventually encourage her father to share more about his childhood and her grandparents’ lives? Do you have family stories that have been told through the generations? Has family history been lost? What is the effect of untold wartime histories disappearing as the World War II generation passes away? What lessons and stories must not be forgotten?