My Very Best Friend (61 page)

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A READING GROUP GUIDE

MY VERY BEST FRIEND

Cathy Lamb

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

The suggested questions are included
to enhance your group’s reading of
Cathy Lamb’s
My Very Best Friend.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.
Describe
My Very Best Friend
using only five words.

2.
Would you have been friends with Charlotte? What would make her an interesting friend? What would make her a difficult friend?

3.
Were Charlotte and Bridget true best friends, in your opinion, given the lies and distance between them?

4.
Which woman—Charlotte, Bridget, Gitanjali, Olive Oliver, Rowena, Kenna, Lorna Lester, or Malvina—did you most relate to in the story? Do you see any of your own characteristics in any of them, both positive
and
negative?

5.
Discuss Charlotte’s character arc. How did Charlotte change from the beginning of the book to the end?

6.
Do you believe in second sight, as Charlotte’s grandma had? If you could see into the future, what would you want to see about yourself and your own life?

7.
How did you feel about Bridget? Did you find her choices, her plight in life, believable given the circumstances? How did her drug addiction, and her lack of ability to stay clean, affect your feelings for her? Was she a sympathetic figure?

8.
Charlotte said, “I had read about AIDS victims rejected by family members and friends, towns flipping out, neighbors turning their backs, schools refusing entry, and general, torch-wielding hysteria. People were afraid. They were uneducated. Their fear often manifested itself in group think, which has never been known for rational thought. They didn’t like what AIDS said about the person, either. It was against their own morality code of what they thought was acceptable. Gay? That was an easy judgment call: Sinful! It’s a choice to be gay, they choose it, they die for it! It’s a lifestyle! God’s wrath! Amoral! Disgusting, repulsive.
Contagious!
Drug user? They got what they deserved! And in St. Ambrose? How would they respond?”

Was the way that the villagers reacted to Bridget’s AIDS diagnosis realistic? Was it fair, given the time period, or was it purely hysterical and unkind?

9.
Did Father Angus Cruickshank deserve to die? Was justice served?

10.
If this happened today and you were on a jury, would you convict the murderer of Angus Cruickshank?

11.
Did Lorna redeem herself by the end? Had you predicted that she was the killer of Angus Cruickshank?

12.
What was the most romantic thing that Toran did for Charlotte? Are there men like Toran Ramsay out there? Would you marry Toran?

13.
What are the themes of the story?

To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018

Copyright © 2015 by Cathy Lamb

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-9509-5
eISBN-10: 0-7582-9509-X
First Kensington Electronic Edition: August 2015

ISBN: 978-0-7582-9509-5

ISBN-10: 0-7582-9508-1