Do you have any theories on how the affliction started in the first place?
How are the townsfolk able to live without understanding the affliction?
The people of the town speculate as to why certain mothers may have disappeared. Why did the mothers disappear? Was there a common bond amongst them?
What notions of motherhood does this book bring up? Does it challenge any of your own views on motherhood?
When did you first realize Ruth’s true identity?
Discuss the townswomen’s practice of pricking their mates with a silver hairpin, which they always have in their hair, during sex, and then sucking their blood from the wound. Does this practice exist in isolation, or does it impact other aspects of the story?What do the childless women in the town represent? What is their place in the town? In the story? What questions does this book provoke about women who lie outside a given norm?
Mr. Philips says he wonders whether the town exists “because we require it.” What does he mean by this, and is it true?
What role does photography play in the book?
Do you believe Vera made the right decision in leaving?
In what ways did motherhood change Vera?
