Never Coming Back (McGhee) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Never Coming Back … then take off on your own:

1. How would you describe Clara's childhood? What kind of mother was Tamara, and how would you describe the relationship of mother and daughter? (Have you read Alison McGhee's 2000 novel, Shadow Baby, which recounts Clara's early years?)

2. Follow-up to Question 1: The relationship between Clara and her mother lies at the crux of the novel. How does Clara's relationship to Tamara change during the course of the story? Also, talk about the contradictory nature of Clara's feelings.

3. Are there any parallels in this book for your life in coming to know a parent as both an individual and mother or father?

4. Clara poses an interesting question in the novel's opening lines when wondering when her mother began the fall into the rabbit hole of Alzheimer's. "Did something insider her change in a single moment? Quit working? Decide enough was enough?" What is your understanding of the disease process — how and when it begins to alter the mind/brain? To what extent is the individual aware of the altered mind?

5. Talk about the irony of Clara's profession as a writer — putting into words what is difficult for people to express on their own.

6. What is the significance of the novel's title "never coming back"? To whom does it apply?

7. Were you surprised by the secret Clara uncovers at the end of the book? Or did you see it coming?

8. What do you think of the author's use of the game show Jeopardy as a device to frame questions that Clara wants answers to? Clever? Hokey? Funny? Distracting?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

top of page (summary)