The Girl Next Door Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, What's In a (House) Name? and our BookBrowse Review of The Girl Next Door.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. "In those days you had to get married. There were no two ways about it" (p. 1). In part, The Girl Next Door is an investigation of traditional marriage—its rewards, its obligations, and the ways couples are viewed by others. Compare and contrast several of the unions portrayed in the novel, including Anita and John Winwood, Rosemary and Alan Norris, Michael and Vivien Winwood, Freya and David, and Stanley and Helen Batchelor. What does each partner provide the other? In what ways do these marriages improve or stymie the characters' lives?
2. What is the significance of setting the characters' childhood in World War II? How does the specter of the war overshadow the novel?
3. Rendell introduces us to two murderous characters in John Winwood, whose killings open the novel, and Rosemary Norris, an unlikely assassin. Contrast John Winwood's murders and their aftermath with Rosemary's attack on Daphne. How do their deadly impulses change each of these characters and their relationships to others?

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