1. “How do you fill a hole? If you take from the whole to fill a hole, is anything made whole?” How do Ben’s words reflect the themes of trauma and recovery in the novel? 

2. Both Ben and Maggie feel extremely guilty over Frankie’s death. How do they deal with this guilt in their everyday lives?

3. Given that Maggie shows disdain for religion many times during the novel, why do you think she turns to the church in her times of need? (For instance, when it concerns her son.)

 4. Why did the author choose to have the narrative jump back and forth between different time lines and events? How does this serve the novel and how would it be different if it read chronologically?

5. Why does Lucy find such solace in the United Church of Spiritualism? Why does this bother Maggie?

6. According to psychologists, dissociation from reality is a coping mechanism for dealing with extreme stress or grief and can manifest in different ways. In what ways do Ben and Maggie each dissociate?

7. Do you think that Ben’s dissociation existed before his self-injury and hospital stay? When and why do you think it started?
 
8. Does Francis feel guilt regarding his sexual orientation or is he comfortable with who he is? Where do you think his tendency toward substance abuse originated?

9. In what ways does the author use the narrative voice to connect the reader to Ben’s experience? Do you think that Ben is a more or a less reliable narrator when he is outside of his own body?

10. How are the themes of religion and spirituality explored in the novel? Discuss the differences between the characters who are more religious and those who are more spiritual.

11. The chapters of the novel alternate between the narratives of Maggie and Ben. The time lines of their respective narratives do not coincide until one of the very last chapters. How do you think this relates to the development of the characters and their relationship?

12. Ben and Cola each have very complicated relationships with their father. Do you think they love him or do they simply feel obligated toward him? Why?

13. How do Ben and Maggie each figure out that they need each other to heal from their emotional trauma? Did Dr. Lambert play any part in Ben’s recovery?

14. How does Ben’s view of the physical world change when he comes out of his dissociative state? How does his attitude change? Why do you think this is?

15. At the end of the novel, are Ben and Maggie finally “made whole”?