1. Long-held secrets play a central role in the plot. Do you think important secrets can ever be kept without causing some kind of damage?

2. Do you think Maura and Mickey Brennan’s experience of the Troubles in Ireland led to their habit of secret-keeping? What caused the Brennans to be a family of secret-keepers?

3. Is your family dynamic similar to the Brennans’? In what ways is it different?

4. What is the significance of West Manor as the story’s setting? How does it differ from the other cities mentioned, like Katonah or Los Angeles?

5. Why do you think the author chose to tell each chapter from a different character’s point of view? Do you think it was effective?

6. Which member of the Brennan clan do you relate to the most?

7. What do you think are the most important themes of the book?

8. How did learning about the history between the Brennans and the Walshes change your view of Billy?

9. What roles do mothers play in this book?
Submitted by Hidden Hollow Book Club (West Chester, PA)

10. Do you think Sunday’s coming back into Kale’s life was ultimately a good thing for Kale? For Sunday?

11. What do you think about Kale’s relationship with Vivienne?

12. Did you expect the ending to unfold the way it did?

13. What do you think will happen next for these characters?
Submitted by the Kolvig Literary Club (Minneapolis, MN)