For those of you that haven't or couldn't attend book club lately, we'll be publishing the previous months' discussion questions here. I hope eventually to post discussion questions for all of the books we've covered since I took over a couple of years ago and beyond, all the way to the beginning over a decade and a half ago. It will take a while. Until then, we will be posting discussion questions on a weekly basis. Here are the questions from September's title, The Mother-In-Law. We hope these questions spark discussions of your own.
The Mother-In-Law
by Sally Hepworth
Summary:
From the moment Lucy met her husband’s mother, she knew she wasn’t the wife Diana had envisioned for her perfect son. Exquisitely polite, friendly, and always generous, Diana nonetheless kept Lucy at arm’s length despite her desperate attempts to win her over. And as a pillar in the community, an advocate for female refugees, and a woman happily married for decades, no one had a bad word to say about Diana…except Lucy.
That was five years ago.
Now, Diana is dead, a suicide note found near her body claiming that she longer wanted to live because of the cancer wreaking havoc inside her body.
But the autopsy finds no cancer.
It does find traces of poison, and evidence of suffocation.
Who could possibly want Diana dead? Why was her will changed at the eleventh hour to disinherit both of her children, and their spouses? And what does it mean that Lucy isn’t exactly sad she’s gone?
Discussion Questions
We read the story from the perspectives of Lucy and Diana—both in the past and present. Why do you think it was important for us to read both of their perspectives?
Diana is impressed with Lucy at the beginning and seems to believe that she’s the kind of woman who just got everything easily. Why do you think Diana was so hard on Lucy to begin with?
There’s a lot of missed opportunities and also just plain misspeaking when it comes to Diana and Lucy. Let’s talk about how their relationship could have been more different, and better, if they were able to actually communicate more.
While it seems that Diana committed suicide because of cancer, the autopsy reports that there’s no cancer. But there’s evidence of suffocation. Who did you think murdered Diana? Did you think Lucy had something to do with it?
Why do you think Diana was so tough on her children and didn’t want to give them money?
Lucy and Diana have quite the volatile relationship, which comes to head, when Lucy pushes Diana in the hospital after her daughter’s accident. Let’s talk about the impact of this scene.
So in the video the author Sally Hepworth mentions that she has a great relationship with her mother-in-law so it doesn’t seem to be the influence for this novel. Why do you think the dynamic between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can be complicated? How does your mother-in-law compare to Diana?
After Diana’s husband Tom dies, Diana goes through a deep depression and is determined to commit suicide. Why did she ask Lucy for help? What were the key factors to change her mind about killing herself?
Throughout the story we learn more about how obsessed Nettie was in becoming a mother. Were you surprised Nettie was the one to murder her mother or did you see it coming? Why did she do it?
What did you think about the ending with Lucy and Ollie starting the recruiting company that Diana had suggested?
What were some of the key themes that you picked up on?
In the opening chapter of the novel, Lucy describes feeling a “little niggle” in the pit of her stomach when the police showed up --- a warning of oncoming danger. Are you familiar with the feeling she’s describing? When have you felt it? How do you think this ominous tone serves to set up the rest of the book?
THE MOTHER-IN-LAW is told in dual timelines and dual narratives --- Lucy and her mother-in-law, Diana. How does this structure affect your reading experience? Did you feel more sympathetic towards one narrator or the other?
What was your initial impression of Diana, both through the lens of Lucy and through hearing Diana’s own voice? How did your understanding of her and her motivations evolve throughout the book?
Diana and Lucy have very different definitions of what makes a “good” mother-in-law. What you you think makes for a good mother-in-law? How universal do you think your opinion is, or how personal? How do you think you would react in Lucy’s position?
What did you think when you first learned about Diana’s Orchard House past? Did it make sense to you, or come totally out of the blue? How do you think it fits in to Diana’s character, and why she acts the way she does in the present timeline?
Before you learned about what happened on Thanksgiving, what did you think the “incident” was? What were the clues throughout the first half of the novel that make you think that way?
On page 133, Diana thinks, “When left to their own devices, bitter people can do bad things.” Do you think she’s right to asses Hakem this way? Where are the other place in the narrative where you think that this same quote applies?
Tom and Diana have very different philosophies about giving their children money. Is either of them correct? Or is there more of a middle ground that neither of them have considered? Do you think it’s cruel for them to let Nettie suffer when they could help pay for her treatments?
On page 219, Ghezala says to Lucy, “Maybe [Diana] was so busy looking at the problems in the world, she forgot to give chances to those right under her nose.” What do you think about that statement? Do you think she’s correct, or is there something more at play?
Before you learned the truth of Diana’s death, did you think that Lucy did it? What made you think that?
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