How the Light Gets In Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Make Room for Ducklings? and our BookBrowse Review of How the Light Gets In.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

Reading Group Discussion Questions for How the Lights Gets In by Louise Penny

1. Louise Penny has said that Three Pines isn't just the setting for How the Light Gets In; it is a main character and plays a pivotal role. How do you view that character and that role?
2. The title is taken from a verse in Leonard Cohen's "Anthem":
   Ring the bells that still can ring,
   Forget your perfect offering,
   There's a crack in everything.
   That's how the light gets in.
   What meaning do these lyrics have in the story - and perhaps in your own experience?
3. We meet Constance Ouellet only briefly, at the start of this novel, yet by the end we understand a great deal about her life. What do you make of that life? How about Audrey Villeneuve's?

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