An Unfinished Life Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of An Unfinished Life.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

About This Book

Jean Gilkyson works in a dry-cleaning shop and lives with her boyfriend Roy in his trailer in Iowa. Her nine-year-old daughter, Griff, has made her mother promise that the next time Roy beats Jean up they will leave him, so Griff is thrilled when she and her mother finally drive away alone, determined to start a new life. When the car breaks down and the money runs out, Jean takes Griff to a place she's never told her about before: her hometown in Wyoming. For years, Jean has been running away from the night when her young husband, Griffin, died in a car accident while she was driving. His father, Einar, has never forgiven Jean for the accident that took his son's life. Einar's wife died at forty-one, leaving him alone except for his friend Mitch, with whom he served in Korea. Mitch is crippled and in constant pain–the result of being attacked and nearly killed by a grizzly bear. Einar and Mitch, now old men without family ties, have become each other's lifelines. With the arrival of Jean and Griff, Einar's bitterness is heightened, but as he learns to love his granddaughter he is forced to come to terms with the life-denying power of his own guilt. With grace and determination, driven by the need to salvage her own young life, Griff unites these suffering adults in the hopes of creating two things she has never known–a real home and a stable family.

Immediately compelling and constantly surprising, rich in character, landscape, and compassion, An Unfinished Life shows a novelist of extraordinary talents in the fullness of his powers.


Questions

1. Near the opening of the novel Griff thinks, "Everybody's mother is good at something. Her mother's good at finding the same man, no matter where he lives" (p. 8). How has Griff been affected by witnessing Jean's abuse by her boyfriends?
   
   
2. What does Griff's diary tell us about her feelings for her mother? What is good about their relationship? Which scenes indicate that Jean is a good mother? What does Griff admire about Jean?
   
   
3. How important are routines in the lives of Mitch and Einar? What human qualities do their daily actions express? Does the novel suggest that it is routine that keeps them alive? How does the appearance of Jean and Griff alter these routines, and who benefits from the changes?
   
   

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.