Think of the scenes in the novel in which the community comes together. Does the novel show that culture unites or divides people?

Compare A Gathering of Days to nonfiction books made up of a young person’s journal or diary entries, such as The Diary of a Young Girl (1947) by Anne Frank and Zlata’s Diary (1992) by Zlata Filipovic. What do the books have in common? How are they different?

How are the two mother figures in Catherine’s life, Mrs. Shipman and Ann, alike and different? What is their effect on Catherine?