Illusions Discussion Questions
Illusions by Janice Brooks

  1. Was Ashleigh’s addiction/reliance on alcohol difficult to handle?  Do your own addictions
    (shopping, food, chocolate, drugs or alcohol) impact your life?  How?
  2. Did you like Ashleigh and want to know her story?
  3. What is your reaction or response to Miles Milton?  Have you known men who put image,
    power and prestige above family?
  4. Was Ashleigh’s relationship with Meagan like a friendship you have?
  5. Can a parent’s response to a teenage pregnancy change the family as it did Ashleigh’s?  
    How would Ashleigh’s life change if another path were chosen?
  6. How did you like Peter?  Were you rooting for first love to be the lasting love of Ashleigh’s
    life?
  7. How common is a “child” locked into a role prescribed by a parent?  How else do parents
    influence our lives?
  8. At what point do we or should we learn to make wise choices and shed illusions?  What
    illusion or “mask” do we hide behind?
  9. Ashleigh’s mother Alicia took second place to Miles, was it cultural or common?  Did you
    understand the break between Ashleigh’s parents?  
  10. What about Scott?  Are most friendships between men and women founded upon
    attraction or emotional connection or a combination?
  11. Was Ashleigh’s reaction to her visit with Peter understandable?  Why?  How would you
    handle the events of Chicago?
  12. Did you see the growth in Ashleigh and did you think she would make it?
  13. What was your response to the ending?
  14. Do you want more of these characters or are you happy with visualizing your own “happy
    endings”?
  15. How did faith change the direction of Ashleigh’s life?
Comments or Suggestions:
illusions@janicebrooks.com