Questions for book clubs
Are you a member of a book club? Why not try one of my books for your next meeting?
When you click on the book below, you will be taken to some questions that I have put together to help with your discussions, but be careful… The questions have spoilers in them so you might want to wait until you’ve read the book before you look!
I hope they help prompt a lively discussion.
- The starting point for the book was the poem This be the Verse by Philip Larkin. How relevant do you think the poem is to the final book?
- One of the book’s themes is generational trauma. Do you think that the traumas of Agatha’s childhood have filtered all the way down to Skye?
- Agatha has a very clear vision of what family life should be. Do you agree with her?
- Eve is very much caught between the needs of her mother and her child – the sandwich generation. How well do you think she copes with this?
- Lyra is determined to be ‘an adult’ and won’t ask for help. Do you have sympathy for her and her point of view?
- With the exception of Henry, the men in the book are gentle. Do you agree? Does this say more about the nature of the men or the strength of the women?
- Agatha finds it easier to be natural with Lyra and Skye than with her daughter Eve. Why do you think this is?
- All the women doubt their credentials as a mother. How universal do you think this self-doubt is amongst mothers?
- The story is about a pair of babies who might have been swapped. Do you think Michelle knew the truth all the way through the book?
- Michelle is keen to sort things out as soon as she suspects Donna isn’t theirs, but Dean and the hospital tell her she’s being silly. Do you think she should have tried harder? Why doesn’t she?
- Sylvie has her own reasons for not agreeing with Michelle. Why do you think she sticks her head in the sand?
- Donna is quiet and Leo rebels but there are reasons beyond just their natures for both of these traits – Donna’s household is noisy and Leo has high expectations placed on her. Which do you think is stronger in creating personality traits? Nature or nurture?
- Michelle and Dean’s relationship doesn’t survive the doubt. Why do you think that happened? Who is to blame?
- Sylvie questions her own maternal instincts and yet builds a good relationship with Leo. How do you think she achieves this?
- Do you have greater sympathy for Michelle or Sylvie? Why?
- What would you have done with the money? How much sympathy do you have with Caroline’s point of view?
- Ellie seems to wander through life with her eyes closed. Is her blind trust of James understandable/excusable?
- Which side of the line do you think Tony walked along? Is he honest or not? Is honesty a black or white concept?
- Not spoiling reputations seems to be important to all the characters to some degree or other. How much does worrying about what others might say alter how they all act?
- Max is caught between his wife and his siblings. Would you have done anything differently in his place?
- How do you feel about the representation of parental relationships in the book? Does how Tony and Valerie parent influence the way Max and Ellie are bringing their children up?
- How do you see the family’s future? Do you think they can ever go back to the way things were at the start of the book?
When we first meet Maggie and Angie, it’s hard to imagine that they will ever be friends as they are so very different to one another. Why do you think their friendship works?- What at first seems exciting and Bohemian about Tiger’s life starts to tip over into something else. How appealing is a life with no roots? What do you think Tiger is running away from? Why does he stop?
- Leon choice of wife surprises Angie and threatens to drive them all apart. What do you think Leon is searching for?
- Jax runs a mile when Angie falls pregnant and yet Angie seeks to arrange it so that he and Romany meet. Why do you think she does that?
- Have you ever thought about appointing a guardian for someone? What did you take into consideration? How practical do you think Angie’s proposal actually is?
- Ultimately, it seems that Angie knew her friends almost better than they knew themselves. Do you think their lives are improved by the end of the book?
Pip and Evelyn are both desperate to escape their hometown. Why do you think that is? Is the grass always greener somewhere else?- Pip reinvents herself in London, even going so far as to change her name. Do you think people can change as much as they might want to? What about those that knew them before? How do they fit in?
- Evelyn lands her dream job, only to have to give it up again. How do you think things might have been different if the same situation had happened forty years later?
- Jez and Pip have a special bond based the fact that they grew up together. Do the friends we make as teenagers always know us the best?
- Pip cannot understand why Evelyn chooses not to pursue MacMillan for his crime. Can you?
- When the mother of the boy Pip kills forgives her, it releases something in Pip which enables her to move forward. How important do you feel forgiveness is in the healing process?
Cecily only chooses to tell her children about Marnie after Marnie gets in touch. Why do you think she keeps her secret for so long?- Felicity has always felt like an outsider because her younger sisters are twins. Do you think she really is on the outside? If so, do you agree with her thoughts as to why?
- Ralph is less than supportive when Cecily finds herself pregnant. Do you have any sympathy for him?
- Julia makes the difficult decision to have a baby by herself and so, unknowingly, does what her mother was not able to. Lily supports her but Felicity does not. Who do you agree with?
- Marnie isn’t very likeable. Do you think this is to do with her nature or the way she was brought up?
- Norman knows and keeps Cecily’s secret from his own children. Do you think it is fair of Cecily to expect him to do that?
- Ultimately, Marnie decides that she doesn’t want to be part of the Nightingale family. What did you think about this ending? Can you understand why she wanted to cut the ties with them?
- The book brings up questions around tracking down hidden family members. This is made much easier by Facebook and DNA sites. Is this a lovely way to meet new relations or just opening a can of worms?
When Grace discovers that Charles is having an affair, she decides to repeat her mother’s response to infidelity and turn a blind eye. Do you think this was the right thing to do?- Leah is determined to make the most of her life by leaving her home town, but ends up staying in the house where her mother lived. Do you think her life is diminished by this?
- Clio struggles to find a purpose in her life even though she is wealthy and loved. What do you think are the ingredients of a happy and fulfilled life?
- Leah and Clio both stay close to home. If you could choose, would you rather have the experience of living in lots of different places or the stability of just one?
- Clio believes that she is the sole custodian of her father’s secret. How do you think Grace would have reacted had she known that Clio was carrying this burden? Would they have told Hector?
- Do you think Charles’s behaviour is understandable or forgivable?
- Which of the characters is your favourite, and why? Who do you like the least?
Do you think parents really do have favourites? If so, how might that affect the lives of the children as adults?- Miriam has to give up on her dreams to support her family. Was it fair of Dorothy to expect her to do that?
- By asking for the letter to Clare to be destroyed, Dorothy is choosing to take her secret to her grave. Do you think that was the right thing to do?
- Sebastian responds differently to his sisters to the news about Clare’s paternity. Do you have any sympathy with his point of view?
- Anna chooses to keep her mother’s secret even though it causes trouble with her siblings. What would you have done?
- Questions of nature versus nurture crop up throughout the book. How much do you think our upbringing rather than our genes shapes who we become?
Do you think Michael was right to keep secrets from Cara?- In what circumstances would a mother leave her children behind?
- Were you surprised by Cara’s response to her mother when she finally meets her?
- Ursula and Annie both respond differently to their father’s bullying. Which approach is more successful?
- Cara struggles to remember the past. Do you think she would have been more open to her mother’s return if she could remember more of life before her mother left?
- To what extent is Mrs P a substitute mother? Do you think Cara sees her as such?
- Malcolm, Joe and Greg are all controlling men. Pam, Annie and Beth all respond differently. To what extent do you think a man’s ability to control a woman is governed by her response to him?
