Discussion Questions
1. Did you feel empathy for Ella’s situation initially? What about afterwards?
2. There is strong use of imagery of the sea in Ella’s story, specifically her Martello Tower home situated on the rocks in Dublin Bay. Do you think that was intentional and does it add to the story?
3. Conor and Ella have been friends for a long time and share a close bond, do you think friendships between men and women can ever be truly platonic?
4. Rachel and Marcus have a seemingly perfect relationship except for the fact that he doesn’t want to have any more children. He is adamant that it is unfair to bring a child into the world when he doesn’t want it. Do you agree with this belief or do you think he should have relented so he could hold onto Rachel?
5. What did you think of John-Paul’s relationship with his son?
6. Do you agree with John-Paul’s solicitor when he argues in court that society has a natural bias towards women as mother figures?
7. Ella and her sister Andrea have very different attitudes to their mother’s desertion of their family as children. Why do you think this is?
8. Do you agree with Ella’s assertion that "every action has an equal and opposite reaction," i.e. that we must suffer the consequences of our actions?
9. Rachel mentions that you wouldn’t do her job if you didn’t have hope that people can change. How important is it to have this attitude in our everyday lives?
10. Who saves whom in this novel?
11. Which character do you think grew the most over the course of the story and why?
12. What do you think the future holds for Jack?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)