Discussion Questions

1) What was Robyn Williams trying to accomplish in A TWIST OF FATE? Was it to portray the complexity and intensity of African American relationships? Was it to provide a depiction of career challenges within the music industry?

2) What were your views on the author's choice of dialogue? What message is the author trying to convey?

3) How would you describe the genre of A TWIST OF FATE? Is it a mystery? A suspense novel? A contemporary romance? A fantasy? General fiction? Explain.

4) Did you find the book inspirational? If so, in what ways? If not, why not?

5) Are there characters in A TWIST OF FATE with whom you can identify? Which character(s) and why?

6) The author tells her story in almost chronological order except for the opening that flashes forward. How does this opening scene inform the rest of the book? Would it have had the same effect if it had come later in the book?

7) What was the significance of literary quotes that preceded each chapter?

8) The setting encompasses many geographic locations. What was the author's vision or intent in changing geographic locations? How did this impact the mood?

9) Compare and contrast the different women in terms of their power and weakness? What are your views about the power, strength and weakness of the male characters?

10) The author describes Rev. Clay Evers as publicly kind, caring and deeply devoted to God and his congregation. How would you explain the contradiction between his relationship with Ashela and his relationship to the church?

11) What factors impacted Ashela's relationships with men? Was it the longing for her father? Her disappointments or experiences of betrayal in relationships with Paris? Randall Stein? Sam Ross? Men in general?

12) How does falling in love transform Ashela? How did the events in her ascent to stardom positively (and negatively) impact her relationship with Sam Ross?

13) What does falling in love tell Sam Ross about him self in terms of his power, success and ego?

14) Prudence played a major role in Ashela's life. Describe how exercising precaution impacted Ashela's life in terms of her achievements and failures.

15) How would you describe Ashela's relationship with her mother, grandmother and Kyliah? How did she learn to understand and appreciate the role of her mother, grandmother and Kyliah?

16) What is the role of dreams in this book?

17) Why did the author wait until the end of the novel to reveal what ultimately happened with Sam and Ashela's relationship?

18) What type of response did the book provoke from you? Did you experience a cerebral response where it made you think? What were your thoughts?

19) Did you have an emotional response that aroused your senses and feelings? How were you affected? Which scenes had the greatest impact?

20) How well developed were the characters? Did any conjure up visual images? Which ones? Why?

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