Book Club Discussion Questions
For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of The Ninth Life of Louis Drax.
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
In Brief
Nine-year-old Louis Drax lies in a coma in a hospital bed, re-living the events that led to his near-fatal fall into a ravine. Despite being attracted to the boy's mother Natalie Drax, Louis' doctor, Pascal Dannachet, begins reluctantly to question her version of Louis' accident and the apparent culpability of her missing husband. As the boy struggles to communicate from within his coma, the chilling truth emerges.
In Detail
In this taut psychological thriller Liz Jensen explores the many ways in which people can manipulate one another, from perverting the close bonds of a mother-son relationship to the exploitation of pity and sexual attraction.
Louis is a deeply disturbed child to whom violence is commonplace. His schoolmates call him 'Wacko Boy', and his visits to a child psychologist leave the specialist baffled but admiring of Louis's precocious intelligence. For his ninth birthday, Louis and his mother share a picnic with Louis' father Pierre, who has recently left the family. But the outing ends in a violent row during which Pierre apparently pushes Louis into a ravine and then goes on the run. Miraculously revived after being declared dead, Louis is transferred to a coma clinic in Provence, where, still comatose, he encounters the dream-like figure of a man calling himself Gustave.
Dr Dannachet welcomes the challenge of treating Louis but is unprepared for the power of his attraction to Natalie. His pity for her distressed state tips over into a sexual attraction that both shocks him and leaves him vulnerable. Natalie is convinced that Louis's father is stalking her and when mysterious letters begin to arrive her anxiety seems well-founded. As Gustave gently guides Louis towards the truth and Louis finds his own way to communicate, Natalie's true role in Louis' accident - resisted at every turn by Dr Dannachet — is finally revealed by means of a controversial mind experiment.
For Discussion - Why do you think Liz Jensen chose to preface her novel with a quotation from Paul Broks's Into the Silent Land? How would you interpret it in relation to Louis?
- "But look, before I plunge further into the story of Louis, let me tell you that I was a different man then' (page 22). How is Dr Dannachet changed by what happens? How would you describe him before and after? How does Jensen convey his character?
- How successful is Jensen at capturing the voice of a deeply disturbed nine-year-old? What techniques does she use to convey Louis's character? How does Louis view the adult world? How has that view been shaped?
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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 Bloomsbury USA.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.
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