May We Feed the King Book Club Questions & Discussion Guide

About this book

In an unnamed medieval court, a reluctant monarch endures the tribulations of a crown he never wanted; in the present day, an unnamed curator dresses the public displays of a historic palace. Rebecca Perry's debut braids the two together into a highly wrought puzzle-box that deliberately wrong-foots the reader at every turn. It is an elegant, eye-opening novel about power, history, and how the past gets staged for those who come after.

Discussion questions

1. The novel braids a reluctant medieval monarch with a modern-day museum curator. What was your first impression of that dual structure, and which thread pulled you in first?
2. It is described as a puzzle-box that wrong-foots the reader at every turn. If that trickiness ever frustrated you, what kept you going, the mystery, the writing, or the two worlds?
3. The monarch never wanted the crown, and the curator stages the past for the public. What did each figure reveal about power, and about the roles we are handed?
4. The book keeps the reader slightly off balance about what is true. Where did you land on its games with the reader, and did the payoff satisfy you?
5. Past and present speak to each other throughout. What did the novel ultimately seem to say about history, and about how it gets curated and displayed for those who come later?
6. Perry is a poet, and the book is praised for its delicacy of touch. How did that precision shape your reading, and how did the two timelines play against each other?
7. Both the medieval court and the historic palace are richly staged. How did those settings, one lived and one curated, deepen the book's themes?
8. Did this remind you of another dual-timeline novel, or another story that plays with history and puzzle, in a book, a film, or life?
9. The book is interested in who controls the story of the past. Did that resonate for anyone at the table, in how history is presented today?
10. Who would you hand this to next, the reader who loves a clever, literary puzzle or a fan of historical fiction with a twist, and who might want a more straightforward story?

Themes to listen for

• Power and a crown one never wanted
• History and how it is curated
• Past and present in dialogue
• Truth, games, and storytelling
• Display and performance

If your club liked this, try…

• Possession by A.S. Byatt
• The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
• Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Where to get it

• Check availability at your local library
• Find it on Bookshop.org

Practical notes

Best for clubs that enjoy a literary puzzle and dual timelines. A debut that won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. The reward comes from piecing it together, so take your time.