What Lies Between Us Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, False Memory and our BookBrowse Review of What Lies Between Us.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. This novel provokes questions regarding the loyalty a mother has towards her child. What are the responsibilities we assume as parents and were these met in this story? How did the climax scene on the Golden Gate Bridge affect you? Was it a hard scene to read? Did you anticipate that this is where the novel was heading?
2. Did you suspect who really was abusing the main character? What are the clues? What did you think of Samson? Do you think her mother may have suffered a similar transgression? Why did Ganga assume it was Samson all along? Why was she unable to remember the true abuser?
3. What did you think of the narrator's visions of Bodhi at the end of the novel?

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