Kane and Abel, by Jeffrey Archer

Characters
William Kane	Wladek Koskiewicz (Baron Abel Rosnovski)
Richard – father Anne – mother Henry Osborne – step-father Two grandmothers Kate – wife Richard – son Two daughters Matthew Lester – friend Susan – Matthew’s sister Thaddeus Cohen – lawyer Companies: Kane and Cabot Lester and Company	Helena – adopted mother Josio – adopted father Five siblings including Florentyna (sister) Baron Rosnovski Leon – son Zahpia – wife Florentyna – daughter Debien – doctor at concentration camp Jerzy Nowak – George Novak Davis Leroy – hotel chain owner Melanie – daughter
Richard and Florentyna Kane William Abel Kane – son Annabel - daughter

For discussion:

1.       Which characters did you like the most?  The least?

2.       Did you think that Abel should have done more to help Helena when he returned to Poland and found her?  Could he have?

3.       Was there anything that happened in the novel that surprised you?

4.       Discuss Abel’s marriage.  Do you think Zaphia was too stereotyped?  Should Abel have worked harder at the marriage?

5.       Did Abel’s treatment of women make him a less sympathetic character?

6.       Given their backgrounds, could the two men have acted any differently?  Why or why not?

7.       Could either Kane or Abel done anything to avoid the feud?  Is so, what?

8.       Did you gain any insights into the human character through reading this novel?  What?

9.       Consider the similarities and differences between Kane and Abel in the following chart.  What else can you add?

	William Kane and Abel Rosnovski
Similarities	Birthdate Family size Business sense Ambition
Differences	Success of marriage Treatment of women Childhood