1. Langdon’s desire to move to Majestic Hills is at odds with his wife’s desire to stay in the city. Do you think their compromise is fair? How does compromise show up in other ways in their marriage throughout the novel?

2. What were your first impressions of Majestic Hills and its inhabitants, and how did those views change over time?

3. Why do you think the author chose to give her protagonists the last name Blaque?

4. Do you think it’s possible to build a community truly free from conflict, or are tensions between neighbors like the ones the Blaques experience in some way inevitable?

5. Discuss Josephine’s relationship with Lonnie. How does Lonnie affect Josephine’s view of Majestic Hills? In what ways do you think the two women are similar, and how are they different?

6. What are some things the Blaques experience in Majestic Hills that would be red flags for you in a new neighborhood? Was there a point at which you would have decided to leave if you were them?

7. Compare Langdon’s childhood to Wade’s, and discuss their mirrored uses of the phrase “troubled youth.” Did you see Wade as a troubled youth? Why or why not?

8. Why do you think Wade took the fall for Benny? Was he right to do so?

9. Recall this quote from the trial: “One of our greatest deficiencies is that far too few of us can relate to or understand a person whose life has delivered him to a moment when he believes his only recourse is to wreak devastation.” Do you agree or disagree? How does this play out between the characters in the novel?

10. Do you think Josephine was justified in trying to keep the shooting a secret from her husband?

11. What do you think the Blaques decide to do at the end of the novel? What would you do in their place?