LOST AND FOUND IN PRAGUE

Kelly Jones is the author of The Lost Madonna, The Seventh Unicorn, and The Woman who Heard Color. She grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. She attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in English and an art minor. She spent her junior year in Italy and developed a love for travel, a passion she now shares with her husband, Jim. An art history class in Florence fueled a love for the history of art, which has become an integral part of her writing. She is a mother and grandmother and lives with her husband in Boise.

“[An] intriguing thriller . . . Jones has a real gift for creating well-limned characters and describing the streets and buildings of Prague.”

—Publisher's Weekly

How does the title, Lost and Found in Prague, apply to some aspect of the lives of each of the three main characters?

Dana travels each year during the Easter season to block out the reality of a terrible loss. How do the events of the story and the people she meets in Prague help her to face and deal with this loss?

How does the history of the Czech Republic, as well as the novel’s present-day setting in Prague, affect the plot, mood, and tone of the story? How do Dana’s personal history and her past experiences in Prague play important roles in the book?

Dana describes Caroline, now Sister Agnes, as her childhood best friend, but feels the convent has created an emotional as well as physical wall between them. Does the resolution at the end of the book explain the reason for the break in their friendship? Do you think they would have naturally drifted apart? How would you compare this friendship to that of Father Borelli and Father Ruffino? Are friendships of childhood different from those of adulthood? Do you have friends from your childhood with whom you have later reconnected? Do these relationships have different dynamics as adults?

Dana and Dal learn that they share a common bond, with very different outcomes for each. How do you think this affects their relationship?

Dana is forced to work with two people she does not completely trust. Do you believe trust eventually develops between Dana and Father Borelli? Between Dana and Investigator Damek? How and when?

Before and since the revolution, Prague has been plagued by political corruption. The Czech police system is described by both Father Borelli and Dana as having elements of corruption. How do you see Investigator Damek? How does he work within this system?

Father Borelli is devastated by the dishonesty of his friend Father Ruffino, yet each of the characters deals at some point in the story with personal questions of honesty. Do you think each eventually overcomes the challenges? Is a person ever completely honest with herself or himself? With others?

Dal describes his wife as “a spiritual person, very religious. She believes in the goodness of people, in the loving mercy of God.” Do you believe being religious and being spiritual are the same? Of the three people in the story who have taken religious vows, Father Borelli, Father Ruffino, and Sister Agnes, which do you think is the most religious? The most spiritual?

Miracles have been attributed to the Infant of Prague. Do you believe in miracles? Have you ever witnessed an unexplained event?

Branko Banik is an important character in the story, yet he appears only in descriptions of Dana’s memories or in information revealed through Dal’s investigation. How does this influence your perception of him?

At the end of the story, who has made the greatest change in his or her life? Where do you see each individual’s life going from this point?