16. Re-read the interview between Katie Hayward and Emmet Walker. Think back to when you read it the first time, before you’d finished the book. Did anything give you pause? Is there anything in Katie’s responses that reveals what we later find out to be true?
17. The novel ends with a revelation. Did it surprise you? How does the author build suspense throughout the novel? Can you find moments of foreshadowing that hint at the ending?
18. Part I ends with Reverend Drew saying, “If there is a lesson to be learned from my fall … it is this: Believe no one. Trust no one. Assume no one really knows anything that matters at all. Because, alas, we don’t. All of our stories are suspect”. Do you think all the narrators’ stories—Reverend Drew, Catherine, Heather, Katie—are suspect? Is one of them more believable, more reliable, than the others?
19. Pay particular attention to the minor characters: Ginny O’Brien, Emmet Walker, David Dennison, Amanda and Norman, Alice Hayward. What does each minor character reveal about the narrators? How does each move the story forward?
20. Reverend Drew remembers an intimate moment with Alice Hayward in which she asks him to “Remind me who I am”. How do you understand this need in Alice? What was she looking for in Reverend Drew? Do you think she got it?
21. Excerpts from Heather Laurent’s books are interspersed throughout the novel. Look closely at each excerpt and at what comes before and after. Discuss why you think these are included, and how they impact your reading based on where they appear. Is there a literal connection between what’s happening in the story and what’s happening in Heather Laurent’s books, or is the connection more nuanced? Does one excerpt stand out to you more than the others?
22. Chris Bohjalian’s readers know that his novels often address a significant social issue. Secrets of Eden tackles the tragedy of domestic violence. How did reading this novel influence your understanding of domestic violence?
23. Angels are a recurring image and a major theme in Secrets of Eden. Who sees them? When do they appear? How are they described? How do they affect each character differently? In the end, do the angels provide an image of hope?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHRIS BOHJALIAN is the author of twelve novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Double Bind, Skeletons at the Feast, and Midwives. His work has been translated into twenty-six languages. He lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter.
Visit him at www.chrisbohjalian.com.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 by Chris Bohjalian
Reading Group Guide copyright © 2010 by Shaye Areheart Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Shaye Areheart Books, an imprint of the Crown
Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
Shaye Areheart Books with colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bohjalian, Christopher A.
Secrets of Eden: a novel / Chris Bohjalian.—1st ed.
1. Murder victims—Fiction. 2. Murder victims’ families—Fiction.
3. Clergy—Fiction. 4. Psychological fiction. 5. Domestic abuse. I. Title.
PS3552.O495S43 2010
813′. 54—dc22 2009023946
eISBN: 978-0-307-58970-5
Title page and part title art courtesy of Kim Steele/Photodisc/Getty Images
v3.0
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Secrets of Eden Page 33
