Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

1. What did you think about the main character, Anna Hart? What did you like about her? How did she change and grow over the course of the book? How does she finally make peace with her past?
2. When the Stars Go Dark is set in Mendocino, California. How does the setting shape the novel? How did the author bring the small town and its surrounding woods to life for readers?
3. In Chapter 3, McLain writes, "If you think about it, most of us have very little choice about what we're going to become or who we're going to love, or what place on earth chooses us, becoming home." Do you agree? How does this sentiment apply to the characters in the novel?
4. There are a lot of contrasting elements in When the Stars Go Dark. Light and dark, for example. Good and evil, lost and found, courage and fear, to name a few more. What other contrasts did you notice? Why do you think these opposing ideas are important to the story?
5. Paula McLain is a New York Times bestselling author most known for her historical fiction (The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun, and Love and Ruin). How did this book play with genre? In what ways did it feel similar to historical fiction, and in what ways did it feel more like psychological suspense or true crime?
6. Blame and guilt are big themes in the book, as is redemption. How do these themes manifest throughout the novel? What other central themes are featured?
7. At one point in the novel, McLain writes "Sometimes our dreams can be the most revealing things about us. Who we are when no one's looking, who we believe we're truly supposed to be, if we can get there." Do you think this is true? What do the characters' dreams reveal about their true nature?
8. This book is intense at times, grappling with difficult subject matter around trauma. But it's also beautiful and contemplative. How does McLain balance the emotional registers throughout her novel?
9. Silence and voice are commonly mentioned throughout the book. What do those two words mean in the context of this novel? Which characters have a voice and which are silenced?
10. McLain writes, "I don't believe forgiveness is something we have to kill ourselves to earn. It's already here, all around us, like rain. We just have to let it in." What does this book say about forgiveness? Why you think forgiving yourself is sometimes the hardest thing to do?
11. What do you think is the author's message to readers of When the Stars Go Dark? What did you take away from her book?
12. Discuss the author's note at the back of the book. How did reading about McLain's inspiration and personal for the story influence your feelings about the novel?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Ballantine Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.