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 THE NIGHT SWIM … then take off on your own:
1. As Rachel covers the Scott Blair/Kelly Moore rape trial, amidst the "he-said/she-said testimony, she finds herself increasingly sympathetic toward Kelly? Why does her objectivity, which she has promised her listeners, begin to dissolve?
2. Talk about the way rape trials play out in courtrooms—and in the public arena. Consider, especially, the process of victim shaming. Given that consensuality is often used as a defense, how can accusations of rape be prosecuted fairly? Is "fair" even possible? To what degree, if any, have things changed with the #MeToo movement?
3. How does The Night Swim portray small towns, especially towns with disturbing secrets and long memories?
4. What role does reputation play in ascertaining ugly truths? And how is reputation connected with money and influence? In other words, talk about the role of class—the haves and the have-nots.
5. Were you surprised at the manner in which the two cases intersected? Did you find their resolution satisfactory?
6. Rachel rescues a bird at the end of the novel. What might her act signify, symbolically?
7. Of the three perspectives in The Night Swim—Hannah, Rachel, and the podcast transcripts—did you find one more engaging over the others? Or did you find all three equally compelling?
8. Make this into a movie? Who plays what roles?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)
Night Swim (Goldin) - Discussion Questions
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