Book Club Discussion Questions
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
About This Guide
Ann Packer's provocative debut novel,
The Dive from Clausen's Pier, portrays one young woman's conflict between her commitment to the people in her life and of her duty to be true to herself. At turns enigmatic and candid, this absorbing story challenges us to look inward and to ask discomfiting questions about our relationships, our priorities, and our selflessness for which there are neither easy nor definitive answers. We hope the following questions, discussion topics, and author biography enhance your group's reading of
The Dive from Clausen's Pier and provide you a useful framework with which to explore the themes it encompasses.
About This Book
Carrie Bell and Mike Mayer have been a couple, it seems, forever, dating at fourteen, engaged after graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and have settled into a comfortable relationship. However, Carrie is beginning to struggle with feelings of doubt about their future when tragedy befalls Mike. At Carrie's and Mike's traditional Memorial Day picnic with friends, Mike dives from Clausen's Pier into water that is too low, breaking his neck and falling into a coma. An anxious Carrie diligently visits Mike in the hospital, praying with their friends and families that he will wake up, knowing that he will be a quadriplegic if he does survive. But when Mike does awaken, Carrie's initial relief is quickly replaced by nagging doubts. She avoids the attempts of her mother and of Jamie, her lifelong best friend, to reach out to her. She dreads her inevitable contact with the Mayers, and she resents the accusing looks of Rooster, Mike's best friend, who senses her wavering commitment to Mike. Weary of her confused, hidden feelings, Carrie finally breaks up with Mike and runs off to New York in an attempt at self-discovery. Carrie's taste of new life in New York City leads her to places in her heart and mind that stimulate and thrill her in ways she never knew were possible. But Carrie finds she cannot easily leave behind her old life in Madison, nor can she escape from herself.
For Discussion - Why is Carrie unable to cry until Mike awakes from the coma (p. 1)?
- What effect does Rooster have on Carrie's emotional turmoil during part one? Is Rooster fair in his attack on Carrie outside the library (p. 76)?
- When Carrie and Mike see the bride and groom on TV in the hospital, Carrie thinks: "If his next words were Let's get a minister over here and get married tomorrow, I would say yes" (p. 91) What feelings are driving her at this point? What might have happened to Carrie and Mike if Mike had persisted in getting married after the accident?
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- How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
- What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
- Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Vintage.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.
