Discussion Questions
1. Never Knowing is a novel about discovering who you are, where you come from, and what influences have shaped you. Sara worries that she inherited her anger management problems from her biological father and that her daughter may be affected as well. This fear implicitly raises the question of nature vs. nurture. Which do you think exercises the greater influence over an individual's behavior? Or is it a combination of both? Or something else entirely?
2. This novel deals with the issue of adoption rights, specifically the right of the birth parents to anonymity vs. the right—and occasionally the need—of the adopted children to the knowledge of who they have come from and how. Do you have any thoughts on how those frequently competing interests can be balanced?
3. If you were Sara Gallagher, would you want to find out who your birth parents were? Do you think this question would change for her if she'd had a happier upbringing?
4. When confronted with her birth mother's reaction, Sara does not give up. Would you have given up? How would you feel in her shoes?
5. Do you believe in pure evil? Do you believe Sara's father is evil or is there a sense of humanity in him? Why or why not?
6. Describe the dynamics of the three sisters. Did anything feel familiar to you? Do you believe one sister was more damaging than the other? Why or why not?
7. Even though the police use Sara as bait to lure her father, do you think there was something else at play, perhaps, in the dynamics between Sara and John?
8. Do you believe the police always act in the best interest of justice? In this case, when did you suspect that something might be amiss?
9. Do you agree or disagree with Shakespeare's famous statement: What is past is prologue"?
10. Under what circumstances could you take someone's life? Under what circumstances is it ever justified?
11. Were there plot twists in this book you did not see coming? What surprised you the most?
12. In the end, who lost the most from these events? Who gained the most? Who will be able to move on? Who will not?
(Questions issued by publisher.)