4. Cyrus says that, because of his training, he refuses to “define people as being good or evil” (page 32). Do you think this is true? Do you think the title of the book undermines this idea by setting certain characters against one another as either good or bad?
5. Cyrus wonders if “Evie remembers what happened to her or has chosen to forget” (page 99). Do you think Evie remembers her past and is choosing not to reveal the truth to Cyrus and others, or has she purposely forgotten the trauma as a coping mechanism? Would you consider her a liar if she were purposely concealing her memories? Why or why not?
6. Both Evie and Cyrus are grappling with childhood trauma. Do you think their similar experiences are what draw Cyrus to Evie? How do you think his past impacted his relationship with her, both as her psychologist and her guardian?
7. We all see people how we want them to be seen rather than acknowledging them for who they really are. Why do you think this is? How does this tendency to project our own expectations onto others create problems for the characters in the novel?
8. Evie wonders why, “in a world full of suffering and sadness, why should anybody ‘accept their reality’ when they could change it?” (page 259). Do you think she accepts her reality by the end of the novel? Why or why not?
9. How do the events in chapter 13, when Evie disarms Brodie at Langford Hall, foreshadow the events that transpire between her, Felicity Whitaker, and Cyrus?
10. Throughout the novel, a number of characters conceal the truth or tell lies in order to protect other people, including Evie. She tells Cyrus that she won’t tell him her real name, because if she does, he’ll die, because that’s what happens to everyone she loves. Do you believe her? Do you think it’s ever okay to lie to someone?
11. Discuss your reactions to the novel’s last chapter, where it’s revealed that Cyrus thinks he was wrong about Evie all along. Do you think there was some truth to the story people told about her? If not, why do you think Evie went along with the lie?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Good Girl, Bad Girl is the second book in which Cyrus Haven appears as a character. Read The Secrets She Keeps and discuss Cyrus’s character development, from supporting character to protagonist.
2. Sacha Hopewell, the officer who discovered “Angel Face,” fled the country after the attention the case drew. There are laws against revealing Evie Cormac’s identity as “Angel Face.” When Cyrus recalls the details of the case, he recalls real-life cases of kidnapped girls, including Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard. Research media coverage and reactions to these cases online. How does it compare to the fictional aftermath in the novel?
More from the Author
The Secrets She Keeps
About the Author
* * *
© TONY MOTT
Michael Robotham is a former investigative journalist whose psychological thrillers have been translated into twenty-six languages. In 2015, he won the prestigious UK Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger for his novel Life or Death, which was also shortlisted for the 2016 Edgar Award for Best Novel. Michael has twice won a Ned Kelly Award for Australia’s best crime novel, for Lost in 2005 and Shatter in 2008. He has also twice been shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, in 2007 for The Night Ferry and in 2008 for Shatter. He lives in Sydney with his wife and three daughters.
SimonandSchuster.com
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Michael-Robotham
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ALSO BY MICHAEL ROBOTHAM
The Secrets She Keeps
The Suspect
Lost
The Night Ferry
Shatter
Bombproof
Bleed for Me
The Wreckage
Say You’re Sorry
Watching You
Close Your Eyes
Life or Death
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Originally published in Great Britain in 2019 by Sphere
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Robotham, Michael, 1960– author.
Title: Good girl, bad girl : a novel / Michael Robotham.
Description: New York : Scribner, [2019]
Identifiers: LCCN 2019012944| ISBN 9781982103606 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781982103613 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781982103620 (ebook)
Subjects: | GSAFD: Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PR6118.O26 G64 2019 | DDC 823/.92—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019012944
ISBN 978-1-9821-0360-6
ISBN 978-1-9821-0362-0 (ebook)
Good Girl, Bad Girl Page 36
