Find Her (Gardner) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
1. When Flora is trapped in Devon’s garage, she muses that "people saw what they wanted to see." Devon was more than just a bartender and Flora more than just another victim. Discuss how their social ruses both helped and hindered them.

2. Why do you think the author chose a fox as a recurring symbol throughout the novel? What do you think it symbolizes?

3. In her childhood, Flora’s mother tells her "Every creature must learn to make it on its own. Encouraging dependence doesn’t do anyone any favors." Why do you think such a mantra made an impression on Flora in her later life, and in what ways do you think she adopted it?

4. Discuss the role of victim advocates from the information provided in the book. What do you think their main function is, and who do you think they benefit the most?

5. Discuss the symbol of DR. Keynes’s shoes. Flora and Dr. Keynes call them a "symbol of civilization…a note of beauty and culture and care." What other interpretations can be made as to why Flora was so preoccupied with them when she first awoke in the hospital? How does clothing play into self-image and our perception of others?

6. How does D. D. Warren balance being a full time detective, a mother, and a wife? What would you say are her greatest strengths and weaknesses in both her professional and personal life?

7. Discuss Flora’s relationship with her mother. How do you think it will improve or degrade after the events of the book? What about her relationship with her brother?

8. When Stacey Summers’s father calls Detective D. D. Warren, she tries not to give him too much information. When Flora is missing the first time, her mother is also not privy to the investigation. Despite the risks involved, do you agree with how missing person’s cases are handled in this book? Where should there be boundaries in notifying family members of details in the investigation?

9. At times Flora imagines Jacob laughing or mocking her from beyond the grave. Why do you think he’s become such a large part of her conscience so many years after she was rescued? Discuss the relationship dynamics between victims and their captors.

10. What is the significance of Flora giving up her father’s name to Jacob? Why do you think this was one of the final straws in Flora giving up her identity?

11. Do you think Flora is justified in becoming a vigilante given everything she has gone through?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)

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