BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
In the opening chapter, Caroline is reestablishing contact with someone whom she hasn’t seen since her childhood but who may hold the key to a mystery from her past. Have you ever lost touch with someone still living and had the yen to talk to them again? Perhaps an old childhood friend or roommate from college or your early singlehood days? What keeps you from picking up the phone or dropping them a note via email? Or if you have reestablished contact after a period of years with an old friend or an estranged family member, how did the circumstances come about?
In many ways Caroline feels more closely attached to her aunt Lanie than to her mother. Why do you think this happened? Were the circumstances avoidable? Could Caroline’s mother have handled the situation differently? Were her actions deliberate or accidental?
Are you the adult child of divorced parents? What is the effect of divorce on children? What are some ways to help very young children understand what’s happening when a marriage breaks up? What are some ways to make them feel more secure?
While writing this book, I thought about someone, my father’s brother, who disappeared from my life when I was in my early teens. I recently discovered through Ancestry.com that he has since died. It laid an old family mystery partly to rest for me. Have you ever experienced the unexplained disappearance of someone close to you? Had you been in Caroline’s circumstances, would you have waited so long to look for a parent? Would you pursue someone who might simply want to disappear? Do they have a right to go without a word, do you think? Can you envision circumstances that might lead you to wish to leave your known and familiar life?
Early on in the story, Caroline regrets making a fool of herself in front of a man with whom she had a relationship in high school. Do you think she would have cared so much how she appeared to him if she hadn’t still had feelings for him? Did she make the right decision when she married? Have you ever committed to something of importance because you felt you could make it work? How did your situation turn out?
Soon after you meet Harris in the story, you realize he’s addicted to pain meds. Do you feel compassion for his dependence, given that it began as the result of chronic pain? Opioid addiction has been in the news a lot in recent history. Do you have any thoughts about how this situation occurred?
When it’s doctor-prescribed medication a person becomes addicted to, do you feel the doctor bears any responsibility? The drug companies? What other choices does a person in chronic pain have other than to take the medication?
Is Holly right to insist Harris move out of their house and away from their children until he can get help? How would you respond if a member of your family were to become addicted to the very drug that relieved their pain, giving them back some quality of life?
If your child were in danger, how far would you go to protect them? If you knew your child was engaging in criminal activity, what would you do? Suppose it was your spouse you discovered was involved in some kind of illegal behavior. Would you inform the police? Can you think of any circumstances that would cause you to cover up a crime a loved one had committed? What do you think about the actions of the characters throughout the story? Were they justified? Were there other options, choices they could have made? Was justice served in the end?
Is there too much emphasis placed on sports, particularly football, at the college level? Do you feel that in some cases the boosters and alumni have too much authority and influence with regard to how young athletes are brought into the college athletic arena? In your opinion is the competition more a matter of dollars and cents than it is athletic ability? When it comes to recruiting young athletes, is the system too aggressive? How level is the playing field among colleges when it comes to procuring the top athletes?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2013 Shannon Stroubakis
Barbara Taylor Sissel writes issue-oriented, upmarket women’s fiction threaded with elements of suspense and defined by an emphasis on how crime affects family. She is the author of ten novels: The Last Innocent Hour, The Ninth Step, The Volunteer, Evidence of Life, Safe Keeping, Crooked Little Lies, Faultlines, The Truth We Bury, What Lies Below, and Tell No One.
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Sissel was raised in various locations across the Midwest. She once lived on the grounds of a first offender prison facility, where her husband was a deputy warden. Interacting with the inmates, their families, and the people who worked with them made a profound impression on her. The experience gave her unique insight into the circumstances of the crimes and the often-surprising ways the justice system moved to deal with them.
An avid gardener, Sissel has two sons and lives on a farm outside Austin in the Texas Hill Country.
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