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Reading Group Guide

Discussion Questions

The Never Never Sisters

1. Before Paige sees Sloane she thinks of her as “apart,” not a member of her family. By the end of the book, how do you think Paige would redefine her family unit?

2. How are Paige and Sloane similar and/or different? Who did you relate to more at the beginning of the book? At the end?

3. At what point do you think Paige starts to trust Sloane? What are some of Paige’s obstacles to forgiving her sister for the long absence and ultimately how does she get over them?

4. At what point did your opinion of Dave change (if it did at all)? Was it because of something he did or Paige’s growing awareness?

5. How do you think the dynamics of Paige and Vanessa’s relationship affected Paige in the years before the month during which the book takes place? 

6. What do you think of Vanessa’s strengths and weaknesses as a parent? How much do you think her parenting style affected her daughter’s personalities?

7. At the end of the book, what, if anything, did you think was left unsaid between any of the characters? What do you like to think will happen to them each in the years ahead? Do you think the Reinhardt family is stronger as a whole at book’s end?

8. In several different instances throughout the book, how two characters relate to each other is tied into the actions of a third character. What are some examples of this?

9. Of all the characters in the book, whom do you relate to the most and why?

10. In your opinion, who is the most honest character in the book? The least honest? Why?

11. Did you agree with Paige’s conflicting feelings about Dave’s betrayals (real and perceived) as she was experiencing them? What about Paige’s betrayals of Dave?

12. Did you consider Paige’s flirting with Percy harmless or meaningful? Did your feelings about it change at the end of the book?

13. Did you feel that Paige’s professional training helped or hindered her ability to express her own emotions? Can you name examples of places where her desire to understand other people gets in the way of self-comprehension?

14. Percy and Paige discuss the difference between facts and perception. What are some other places in the book where the same facts mean different things to different people? What are the effects?

15. What is the role of “silence” in the book? Were there situations in which shared knowledge might have altered how things unfold in the story? If you were Vanessa or Paige, what might you have done differently?

16. In your life, have you ever been in a situation where you’ve learned something surprising about someone close to you? What have you relied on in figuring out next steps?

17. At one point, Paige notes that Dave’s greatest strength (ambition) is also his greatest weakness. Are there examples of other places in the book where a character’s strength is also --- in extremis --- his or her greatest weakness? Have you seen any examples of this in your own life?

The Never Never Sisters
by L. Alison Heller

  • Publication Date: June 3, 2014
  • Genres: Fiction
  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: NAL Trade
  • ISBN-10: 0451416244
  • ISBN-13: 9780451416247