Serpent & Dove

Jean Luc clearly envies the Archbishop’s favoring of Reid. How does Jean Luc’s characterization show that envy is determinantal to friendship?

For any witch to use magic, she must sacrifice something in return. Why does Mahurin add this condition to performing magic? How does it serve her plot or add to the tension?

Ansel is one of the few characters who consistently stands up for what is right, even when it fails to align with his preconceived notions. How hard does Mahurin suggest it is for someone to move beyond a restrictive upbringing to do what’s right?

What role does gender play in the persecution of witches in Serpent & Dove? How do the witches understand their own role as women?

How do the priests justify experimenting on patients in the infirmary? How do the witches justify bewitching people in such gruesome ways? What parallels does Mahurin draw between the two?

Sometimes when someone shows you their old haunts they are asking you to understand their past. Lou shows Reid Pan’s patisserie, the attic at Soleil et Lune, and the theater’s rooftop. What is she asking him to understand?

Hélène reveals she is Reid’s birth mother, while the Archbishop acts as his adoptive father. How does Reid’s relationship with these characters reflect anxieties about parentage?

Lou is traumatized by her abusive parents, both of whom try to kill Lou during the novel. How do the final, toxic revelations from Morgane and the Archbishop hurt and/or help Lou?