The Sparkle Pages
Page 35
2. Throughout the course of the novel, Susannah often doubts Hugh’s love for her. Did you?
3. In what ways is a best friend more or less important than a partner?
4. At one point Susannah laments: ‘How did I end up spending my life searching for sundries, washing undies and trying to get out of cooking?’ What do you see as the lows of parenting? Do they ever outweigh the highs?
5. Susannah states that her love for her children sometimes punches her in the stomach. Discuss what you think she means.
6. In what ways do you agree with Susannah that ‘a wife would be handy’?
7. Did you find it understandable why Susannah refused to play viola for so long?
8. Eloise says, ‘Are you going mad, do you think? You can be weird sometimes.’ Were there times in the novel where you ever felt Susannah was going ‘mad’?
9. Anxiety is in epidemic proportions among Australian mothers. Why do you think this is, and in what ways does Susannah represent women you know?
10. ‘There’s the one thing that I would really, really like in the bedroom – for Hugh to make the bed and vacuum under it. Without my asking him. If he ever washed the sheets, I swear to god I’d have an orgasm.’ Are there any other domestic duties that you would classify as sexual fantasies?
11. Did you feel sympathetic towards Ria in relation to her final act?
And then, if you’ve all had a few wines:
12. What’s your worst in-salon experience?
13. Do you keep secrets from your partner?
14. Have you tried love eggs?
MICHAEL JOSEPH
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First published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd 2019
Text copyright © Meg Bignell 2019
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, published, performed in public or communicated to the public in any form or by any means without prior written permission from Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd or its authorised licensees.
Cover and text design by Louisa Maggio © Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Cover photographs: paper by Natalia Omelchenko/Getty Images; sunburst by Rebellion Works/Shutterstock; spiral binding on back cover by Early Spring/Shutterstock
ISBN 9780143790457
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