GJR Discussion - The Secret of Joy

[Julie]

Join us for a discussion on our May read which is Melissa Senate's The Secret of Joy.

[Julie]

Here are some discussion questions from the paperback version of the novel:

1) Is sharing the same DNA enough in and out of itself to make someone family, or do words like family and sister hold meaning that goes much deeper than genetics?

2) Rebecca makes a lot of major decisions without really thinking about them - going to Maine, getting a dog, renting a house, giving up half her inheritance. Why do you think she is able to make these decisions so easily and confidently, even while acknowledging that she doesn't really know what she is doing?

3) Why do you think Joy keeps the painting of her father hanging in her house when she seems so opposed to talking about him and acknowledging his role in her life?

4) Is Michael being selfish in telling Rebecca that her inheritance is their future, their down payment on a home, their kids'education? Do you think he is more concerned about securing his own future than he is about helping Rebecca make the right decision for herself?

5) Rebecca feels a lot of guilt and sympathy for her father's abandonment of Pia and Joy, but she doesn't seem to be very angry with Pia for getting involved with a married man. Were Pia and Daniel equally wrong in their situation, having both known all the details? Or is Daniel more at fault because he was the one who was already married?