Storms of Malhado is a historical novel with paranormal elements set on Galveston Island written by Maria Elena Sandovici. In it, three different women face deadly hurricanes in the same Galveston mansion at different points in time: 1900, 1961, and 2008. The storms featured in the story are major ones, which made an impact on the history of the Island, thus the book offers a unique opportunity to learn a lot about Galveston through the ages. The three timelines, the themes of destiny, fatal attraction, and redemption make the novel perfect for book clubs. If your book club is reading Storms of Malhado, here is a list of discussion questions compiled by the author to help get conversation going. Also, if you are in the Houston/Galveston area, please feel free to reach out. The author loves meeting book clubs!
Book Club Discussion Questions for Storms of Malhado by Maria Elena Sandovici
1. Would you say this is a ghost story? Who are the ghosts? How do they manifest themselves?
2. What role would you say astrology plays in the book? If you had to guess, what would you say are the sun signs of Suzanne, Josephine, Desmond, Betty, Edna, Cornelius, Katie, Mama, and George?
3. What books have you read that are similar? In what way?
4. What’s your favorite meal in the book and why?
5. What is the lesson Katie must learn? How about Mama?
6. What’s your favorite thing to stock up in case there’s a bad storm?
7. What scene in the book spoke to you the most and why?
8. Have you read any other books by Maria Elena Sandovici?
9. What is the role of the two horses in the story? Why are they mentioned so many times?
10. Which Galveston mansion do you think inspired the story? Do you think it’s a real house or a compilation of several?
11. Have you visited any of the places mentioned in the book?
12. Do you like Betty or does she annoy you? Do you think there is a tendency to judge women harshly for their mistakes in our society, and what does that say about us?
