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Reading Group Guide

Discussion Questions

The Stranger in the Mirror

1. Consider the book’s opening line: “I’d like to think I’m a good person, but I have no way of knowing for sure.” How does someone know if they’re a good person without a memory of their lives? What makes a good person, in your view?

2. Do you sympathize with Blythe? What would you do if your child fell in love with someone with no past? Is Blythe justified in her search to learn more, or is she overstepping?

3. Many of Addison’s memories are triggered by images --- but the other senses are powerfully connected to memory. Which sense is most tied to memories for you?

4. Did the events of the story give you any new or surprising insights into what the mind is capable of?

5. There are different kinds of parent-child relationships in the book. What’s the difference between Ed and Gigi’s with Addison and Julian’s with Valentina? Is Julian replaying his own childhood in raising Valentina?

6. Does Addison actually have a choice about what to do after her past and present collide? What would you have done in her shoes?

7. Do you think it’s possible to be in romantic love with two people at the same time?

8. Would you be able to build a relationship with someone who didn’t remember your past together, even if you did?

9. Do you think it’s necessary to confront the past in order to have a future?

10. What do you think will happen next for these characters?

The Stranger in the Mirror
by Liv Constantine