Sisters of the Midnight Sun Book Club Questions
by Rebecca Wright Stevens
These questions assume everyone has finished the book and contain spoilers, including the ending.
This novel gives book clubs a lot to wrestle with. It asks who deserves a fair defense, what counts as justice, and how much anyone can do for people trapped in cycles of trauma. The Alaska setting and Inupiaq perspectives add layers that will make readers question their own assumptions.
Use these questions as a starting point, not a checklist. Pick the ones that spark the strongest reactions and let the conversation go where it needs to. There are no easy answers, and that is exactly why this book is so good to talk about.
Defending Amos Lane
- 1.At the bail hearing, Rebecca insists the murder suspicion isn't evidence and argues for low bail. Did you agree with her choice to defend Amos Lane despite the community pressure and the likelihood that he was involved with the Ipalook sisters?
- 2.Liz warns Rebecca not to represent Amos and says Inupiaq law would cast some people out. Do you think Liz's view is more just than Rebecca's due-process approach? Should Rebecca have listened?
- 3.Amos agrees to a grant of immunity and testifies before the grand jury, then is later charged with perjury. Did you agree with Rebecca's decision to negotiate immunity for a client she privately suspected might be guilty? What would you have done?
- 4.At the trial, Amos Lane testifies that he never entered the Ipalook house, but his SATS appointment card was found under Bernice's body. What did this piece of physical evidence tell you about Amos's testimony and his immunity deal?
Investigators and the Trial
- 5.Ellingsworth and Marten secretly record a conversation with Rebecca to get Amos's alibi witnesses. How did this affect your view of the investigators? Did it change whether you trusted Ed Ellingsworth's later theory that John Adams was guilty?
- 6.In Chapter 6, Nate and Kiana describe Amos following Bernice and Wanda, and Bernice getting on his three-wheeler. Given Amos's history and his mother's murder, did you think he was guilty at that point? Did your suspicion change later?
- 7.In the confession video, Ellingsworth feeds John Adams a narrative by saying 'You didn't mean to do it' and 'Women are just so infuriating sometimes.' Did watching the video make you believe Adams's confession was false? Do you think the jury was right to acquit him?
- 8.After John Adams is acquitted, Amos is charged with perjury and later released for time served after a no-contest plea. Were you satisfied with this outcome? Did the unresolved murder case feel like justice to you?
Cycles of Trauma and Responsibility
- 9.Randy is a teenager caring for his dying mother and working thirty to forty hours a week. Despite Rebecca and Liz's efforts, he kills his girlfriend and himself. Were the adults responsible for failing him, or is this tragedy beyond what any lawyer or friend could prevent?
- 10.The epilogue reveals Harriet Lane was also murdered in the endless light, and Amos eventually dies in a police shootout after trying to reunite his parents' graves. How did learning Amos's full family history change how you viewed him? Do you see him as a victim of cycles of trauma, a murderer, or both?
- 11.The narrator imagines Joshua Ahvakana saying, 'Let us no longer seek Anglo justice or Native justice. Let us seek peace.' After all the trials and unresolved deaths, do you agree that seeking peace is more important than seeking justice? Why or why not?
Rebecca's Personal Life and Grief
- 12.Michael confesses to selling his land allotment and using family Permanent Fund checks for cocaine. Why did Rebecca decide to give him time instead of ending the relationship? Did you think she was right?
- 13.Liz predicts the narrator and Jim will marry, and later the narrator elopes with Jim while Michael watches the plane take off. Did you expect Rebecca to end up with Jim rather than Michael? What did the airport scene with Michael suggest about her grief and choices?