How Can I Help You Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson and our BookBrowse Review of How Can I Help You.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. How Can I Help You is set primarily in a library, which is described by Margo as a quiet, anonymous, and orderly haven. Alternatively, Yvonne describes it as a lively community center. Whose description is right, and why? Do you recognize your own local library in either or both descriptions?
2. Margo and Patricia first meet when Patricia lands the job at the library's reference desk. What significance does her new assignment bear in terms of how the story unfolds?
3. Despite how they present publicly, Patricia and Margo are immediately drawn to each other. Why do you think each becomes the object of the other's fascination?

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