Book Club: The Emperor's Children | Question 1

At the novel’s onset, most of the characters are outside New York: Danielle in Australia, pursuing an idea for a story and finding someone to have a crush on; Marina at her parents’ summer house in Stockbridge, accompanied by Julius; and Bootie in his mother’s house in upstate New York. Why might Messud have chosen to begin in this manner? At what other points in the book do the characters leave the city and with what results?