June’s book club selection is The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe, and I’m not scamming you when I say that you’re gonna have a lot to talk about at your next club meeting! As each layer is tensely unveiled in our protagonist’s story, the complexity of emotion will leave you with your head spinning and your jaw dropped, like you just got conned. (But I swear, this book is the real deal.)
Content Warnings: The author has created a comprehensive content warning for her book on her blog, though beware there may be some slight spoilers. There is violence, abuse (including molestation), and death, though nothing is shown in explicit detail.
Icebreaker
Every time Abby chooses a new mark, she gives Nora a new personality defined by three adjectives. For example, Samantha was “dainty, delicate, and demure,” while Rebecca was “sweet, silent, and smiling.” Think about your true self (not a fake one!) and describe it with three adjectives. Bonus points for alliteration!
Questions
This book explores complicated relationships, from family relationships (Nora and her sister, Lee) to romantic relationships (Nora and Iris) to friendships (Nora and Will). Which relationship did you find the most compelling?
What did you think about Nora’s mother, Abby? Did you find any aspect of her to be sympathetic or understandable?
With Nora’s story, author Tess Sharpe paints a portrait of a survivor. As Nora puts it, “What didn’t kill me didn’t make me stronger; what didn’t kill me made me a victim. But I made me stronger. I made me a survivor.” Do you think she did an effective job of portraying the nuances of surviving the abuse that Nora went through? How did the scenes with Margaret (Nora’s therapist) tie into this? And how do you feel about how Sharpe tackled Iris and Will’s stories as fellow survivors?
Sharpe weaves a layer of social commentary throughout the book on topics including misogyny, chauvinism, and the sexualization of girls and young women. What did you find to be the most powerful topic she explored?
What did you think about Lee’s relationship with the FBI agent (Marjorie North)?
When Nora talks about being born into the con, she says: “Charm, people call it. Useful is what it is. To see into the heart of someone and adjust accordingly, instantaneously, to mirror that heart? It’s not a gift or a curse. It’s just a tool.” Which tools of the con (whether used by Nora or her mother) were you most impressed or surprised by?
For folks who have read Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking trilogy, did you get a kick out of Will’s dad’s name? I’d call it pretty damn apt.
The following questions contain spoilers:
Did you see Nora’s plan to steal from the deposit box coming? She thinks Wes would disapprove, and Iris probably wouldn’t. Where do you fall?
Did you have any theories on what was on Raymond’s thumb drive?
How did you feel about the final scene in which Nora confronts her mother? Did it change how you felt about Abby at all?
Do you think Nora’s plan (if she dies, Raymond’s blackmail files will be released, and he’ll become the target) will work to keep him from hunting her down?
