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Reading Group Guide

Discussion Questions

Evening News

1. Giselle has difficulty accepting the idea of a "blameless" accident. Do you think there is such a thing? Is Teddy completely blameless or does the fact that his finger pulled the trigger make him accountable?

2. Parents are often said to have unconditional love for their children. Do you think it is possible for someone to love another person unconditionally?

3. Can a stepparent love a stepchild as much as a biological parent can? Is there truth to the saying that "blood is thicker than water?"

4. Can you understand Dan's behavior toward Teddy? Given the circumstances, do you think Dan should have been able to pull himself together and to treat Teddy with more sympathy, or do you think his behavior is justified?

5. Giselle and Dan dealt with their grief in very different ways. Do you think this is because women and men deal with grief differently or because, as Teddy's mother, Giselle didn't have the option of allowing her grief to overtake her life?

6. Ed and Dan are very different, both as individuals and in their relationships with Giselle. Why did Giselle leave Ed? What did she find in Dan that Ed had lacked? Do you think either man was right for her?

7. Dan teaches a class in which his assignments are "aimed at exploring . . . personal experience in order to see how [his students] arrived at their opinions and values," yet, after Trina's death, he is unable to communicate or articulate his feelings. Discuss.

8. As you were reading, how did you think the book would end? Did you think Giselle would end up with one of the two men in her life?

9. Why is this book titled Evening News? What role does the media play in the story?

10. In considering the ending, do you think Dan, Giselle, or Teddy ever find peace? How has Trina's death affected their career paths and personal relationships? How do you envision Teddy's future?

Evening News
by Marly Swick

  • Publication Date: January 11, 2000
  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Back Bay Books
  • ISBN-10: 0316825646
  • ISBN-13: 9780316825641