The Promise Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Hurricane No-Name and our BookBrowse Review of The Promise.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. In the prologue, Nan makes a promise to Bernadette. What are other examples of promises made throughout the novel?
   


2. Catherine broke a social taboo by having an affair with a married man. If she had lived in the year 2014 rather than in 1900, how might she be treated?
   


3. Catherine is viewed as the outsider by her neighbors in rural Galveston. What could she have done to make the adjustment easier? What could Oscar have done to help her? Nan?
   

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