Beth’s boycott of the café has everything to do with its location and nothing to do with its coffee! The squeals and laughter of children are too much for her to cope with over a cappuccino.
I’m not especially religious but I do like churches. Southwark Cathedral is not too far from home and has a lovely human scale – it doesn’t overpower or intimidate but it still impresses. I never feel I have to whisper when I’m there – only that I want to.
I’ve found the peace of the cathedral’s Harvard Chapel useful for mulling things over, like life, love – and writing. So when Beth needed somewhere to think, the Harvard Chapel was the only possible place for her to go.
As in the book, the word veritas (truth) appears three times in the Chapel – in the stained glass window, on a flag and in a stone on the ceiling. When I’ve been trying to untangle knots of plot (in my fiction and my life) those words have proved rather useful.
Maybe I just noticed them when I’d floated the idea I most wanted to pursue. Or maybe someone was trying to tell me something after all. Veritas? Who knows.
Designed by Sidney R J Smith, who was also responsible for the Tate Britain art gallery, the Durning library is one of the prettiest buildings in Kennington.
Like libraries all over the country, it is more than just somewhere to borrow books from. It’s a vital part of the community – a source of (among other things) training, information and internet access.
Most of the people involved in the various community groups have some kind of link with the library. If the park is Kennington’s lungs, the Durning is its heart. No wonder it is defended so vigorously whenever cutbacks loom - or that two of the novel’s characters are Friends of the Durning Library.
It has played its part in the Friends of Kennington Park too, hosting umpteen public meetings and launch events for the five booklets I’ve written on the park’s history. So it was a no brainer when it came to choosing the venue for the launch of my novel.
Questions for Discussion
1. Do you think Beth is guilty or has Esme been manipulating her from the start?
2. Do you think readers who have children will respond differently to this novel than those who have not? In what ways do you think their responses will differ?
3. Beth and Brian dealt with their grief over the loss of Amy in very different ways. Beth never gave up hope of one day finding out the truth, while Brian tried to move on and rebuild his life with a new family. What do you think of their separate coping mechanisms?
4. The bond between a mother and daughter is incredibly strong. Do you think it’s natural that a mother would find it harder to move on with her life in this situation?
5. To what extent do you think Beth is a victim of her own wishful thinking?
6. Do you need to have a belief in reincarnation to believe Beth could be guilty?
7. What beliefs do you think the author holds about religion and reincarnation?
8. Do you believe there are genuine psychics? Have you ever had any experience with a psychic?
9. If Esme really is Amy then Beth would have a second chance at happiness. Do you think she ever really believes that she and Esme could connect and live as mother and daughter?
10. ‘Now I know. My daughter was raped.’ Not knowing the fate of your child is an unimaginable thing, but in this situation, do you think finding out the truth is far worse? Would it have been better for Beth never to have known what happened to her daughter?
Further Reading Suggestions
from R.S. Pateman
We Need to Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver
A mother examines her role in raising a son who carries out a fatal attack on high school students. Was it nature or nurture? The mother’s unblinkingly honest, angry narration makes for an uncomfortable, unforgettable read.
Harvey Mary Chase
A whimsical Pulitzer Prize winning play – and one of my favourite films (the original version, with Jimmy Stewart, that is). It plays with perceptions of mental health and attitudes towards it. A man (who likes a drink or two) says his best friend is an invisible 6’3” white rabbit. And who are we to doubt his sobriety or sanity?
Paranormality: Why We See What Isn’t There Robert Wiseman
A Professor of Psychology debunks supernatural phenomena and the work of psychics. Utterly convincing – unless you want to believe otherwise. . .
So Many Ways to Begin Jon McGregor
A tender, poetic account of a man’s struggle with the realisation that his whole life – and sense of self – has been built around a lie.
Blacklands Belinda Bauer
A twelve-year old boy corresponds with a paedophile in his quest to find the grave of his older brother. An unusual and compelling psychological suspense/crime/coming-of-age novel.
The Second Life of Amy Archer Page 32