Book Group Discussion Questions for Fall From Grace
1) Consider the quote from Grace that opens the novel: “Some marriages end with a
bang, some with a whimper. But in all marriages, without exception, the beginning
of the end is a secret.” What are the different secrets that are the “beginning of the
end” for the marriages in Fall From Grace?
2) As a society, we’re struggling to understand how ordinary people can turn
violent. Does the author present a believable picture of how hurt and anger fester
into blame and lead to retribution?
3) The novel is told in the 3rd person, with shifting points of view. Does this work
for you? How would the novel have been different if told from Grace’s perspective
only?
4) The novel looks at how a few drops of DNA can be a powerful force in forming
public opinion --- and erase decades of living with integrity within a community. In
our age of social media, someone’s “reputation” is more fragile than ever before. Do
you find this disturbing? Do you identify with Grace? How do you see yourself
reacting if a friend of yours was similarly accused … and there was “evidence”?
5) Grace McDonald is not a typical protagonist for a mystery series. She isn’t the one
who solves the crime. In fact, at times she seems almost more a victim than a
protagonist. Readers may feel impatient with her denial, of her situation, her more
vulnerable and human response to loss. Does this make her less admirable? How do
you see Grace changing throughout the novel? Based on how she has changed in this
book, how do you predict that she will be different as a protagonist in future books?
6) Mandy may be the character who changes most significantly in the book. What
adjectives would you use to describe her at the beginning … and then at the end?
7) Danny Rivers is a complex character. How did your reactions or responses to him
change over the course of the novel? Do you see him as emotionally disturbed? Are
you troubled by his lack of remorse? What specifically allowed you to feel
compassion? What specifically did the author do to create such a dichotomy in one
character?
8) Kat makes a choice to not tell her best friend the secret. Have you been faced
with choices where truth could hurt someone you love… and where silence seemed
to be the more caring choice? How do we decide what makes a decision, such as Kat
faced, right or wrong?
9) Which of the minor characters of Fall From Grace do you find most memorable?
Are there any with whom you feel a stronger connection? Why? What does the
author do, or fail to do, to make the minor characters more ‘real’?
10) There are multiple wives and mothers in Fall From Grace. How do the women
experience their roles and responsibilities as wives and mothers? Compare and
contrast to how you see your own roles in your own life.
11) Fall From Grace has been described as “Kafkaesque.” In what ways do you see
that as accurate or not?
12) Writers are often advised to “write what you know.” Author Susan Kraus is a
therapist. Do you think it helps to “write what you know” or better to have more
distance?
13) Mandy and Grace have different experiences of their client-therapist
relationship. How does the therapy process impact Mandy’s life? Do you feel it is a
reasonable representation of a therapeutic process? Do your think that Mandy
would have left without the support of Grace?
14) Mandy refuses to allow Danny to know about or join in the counseling process.
Do you feel she should have? Could Danny have changed? What do you feel are
“good enough” reasons to divorce?
15) Kraus weaves a variety of social and political themes throughout the novel. Are
there any that resonate with you?
16) The time line on this book extends over a few years. Was it easy to track or do
you prefer more compressed time lines?
17) In many books, the characters know things that the readers do not. In Fall From
Grace, the readers know critical facts before the characters. Does this work? How
can there be literary tension when the reader knows “who done it”?
18) Grace seems to believe that bad things will not happen to good people if they
follow all the rules and ‘play safe.’ Kraus seems to argue that this is an Anglo, naïve,
middle-class assumption that allows people to feel a false sense of security. What do
you think? How does your own upbringing, neighborhood, community, religion, race
and ethnicity impact your sense of security? Your trust in the legal system?
19) Does Fall From Grace fit within any specific genre? Is it a thriller? A family
drama? What elements do you see that reflect a genre? Which do not?
20) Grace and Kat have forged a friendship that is more surrogate family. Do you
have family-substitutes in your own life? How are they different from ‘real’ families?
21) There is a sex scene with Mandy and Danny. Do you find it believable? Do you
think it is more erotic for women than for men? Why? Did you feel judgmental of
Mandy after all she did to get way from Danny? Do you think that women are more
judgmental of other women than of men when it comes to extra-marital or ‘postmarital’ sex?
22) Mandy has always been a ‘good girl’ who followed the rules. Yet she feels
compelled to follow her gut and takes significant risks. Have you had experiences
where your intuition, your ‘gut’, was telling you to do something that seemed crazy?
Do feel that intuition is depreciated in our culture compared to many other
cultures?
23) Did you laugh at any particular place in the book? Did you cry? Do you feel that
your emotional response was manipulated?
24) The ending is not conventionally ‘happy.’ Did you find it to be too neatly
‘wrapped up’? Or was there ambiguity? What makes a “good ending” for you as a
unique reader?
25) If you could ask the author a question --- any question --- what would you like to
know?