Book group questions – The Last Time I Saw You
I’ve loved chatting with book groups about my previous book, Tell Me How This Ends. I’ve also enjoyed answering questions that readers have sent me via social media. So, in advance of book groups getting together to talk about The Last Time I Saw you, here are some questions to get your discussion started.
At the start of the book, Georgie and Dan know very little about their mother or her life. Do you think Nancy was right to hide certain things from her children?
When Nancy leaves, she talks about her sense of shame. But does society judge a mother differently for leaving her children than a father?
The first time Georgie meets Finn he says, ‘Rescue me’. Why do you think this chimed with Georgie – and could she ever have succeeded?
When we meet Georgie, she has moved to the country to leave her past behind. How well has she succeeded? Has this changed by the end of the book?
If Georgie had ignored the news story and not gone in search of Nancy, how might her life have unfolded? Might her relationship with Wilf have been different?
At the start and the end of the novel, Nancy is living in remote places, close to nature. Why might she have been drawn to such places?
How does the sibling relationship between Georgie and Dan change over the course of the story?
Gerry acts in a way that would be considered inappropriate by our modern standards. Do you think the same behaviour could happen today?
Nancy talks about feeling ill-equipped to be a mother. How much did her own upbringing help or hinder her mothering skills?
Towards the end of the book, Georgie tells Dan, ‘It was a set of people and events who came together at exactly the wrong time . . . No single person is to blame.’ Do you agree with this statement?
How do you imagine Nancy’s relationship with her children might progress after the novel ends?
A secret lay at the heart of Nancy and Frank’s marriage. But could their marriage have been saved?
How much sympathy do you have for Frank?