1. Why is the novel called The Wrong Mother? Does the title refer to a specific character in the book?

2. Is Sally a sympathetic character? Are her reasons for having a fling understandable or do you disapprove of her?

3. Is Nick a good or a bad husband? What about Mark Bretherick? And Jonathan Hey?

4. Do you see what happens to Sally subsequently in the book as a punishment for her having been unfaithful to her husband? Is the book taking a moral stance over extra-marital affairs? (The answer to this is no, by the way!)

5. What is the book saying about motherhood in the book? How do Sally, Encarna, Geraldine and Cordy differ, in their behavior as mothers?

6. What does the sociological theme of 'family annihilation' killings add to the book?  How does it resonate with the main plot?

7. Do you see the novel as having a feminist agenda in any way?

8. Is Jonathan Hey evil, or are his crimes understandable?

9. What point is the book making, if any, about the role of grandparents in contemporary families?

10. Are the little girls in the novel --- Lucy, Amy and Oonagh --- goodies or baddies? Is it possible for a child to be a baddy, or is a nasty child's behavior more excusable than a nasty adult's?