The Stillwater Girls

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Did you feel sympathy for Maggie? What moves did the text make in order to encourage or discourage sympathy for her? Why did these techniques work or not work on you?

2. Discuss the text’s treatment of Chuck’s behavior at the homestead. Does Nic condemn it strongly enough? Why or why not?

3. What traits do you think make a person more or less resilient? How do your own observations of resilience in real life influence your reaction to the characters in this story?

4. How do you feel about Sage’s decision to leave Wren behind and live with her birth family? Do you think this choice was disloyal in some way? What do you think you would do in a similar situation?

5. Brant does not blame Nic for giving Hannah to a stranger. If you were in his shoes, how would you feel? Based on your own experiences, where do you think you draw the line between forgivable and unforgivable actions?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Maggie has strong beliefs about the world outside the homestead. Which of her beliefs strike you as pure delusion and which would you consider more reasonable?

2. What is postpartum psychosis? What other mental, physical and emotional shifts can occur after someone gives birth? How prevalent are these conditions, and what resources are people offered to understand and cope with these issues?

3. Wren, Sage, and Evie show great resilience after learning that Maggie kidnapped them. Does their recovery reflect the real-life experiences of children who have been kidnapped and raised by people outside their biological families?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. How does alternating between Wren’s and Nic’s first-person narration enhance the book’s suspense and tension? How might this work be more or less effective as a domestic thriller with a third-person narrator?

2. Nic, Wren, and Sage all face a similar situation—someone they care deeply for is keeping an important secret about their lives. How would you compare their reactions to this situation? What do the similarities and differences among their reactions illustrate about each of these three women’s personalities?

3. Is Kent’s characterization of Brant ambiguous enough to create meaningful suspense around his actions leading up to the climactic reveal? What moves does Kent make to plant doubts about his motives? How does this impact Nic’s characterization and the development of her central conflict?

4. How does Kent use descriptive detail and imagery to create contrast between life at the homestead and life in the Gideon home? What common elements are there between these two settings? How does the contrast between the two settings contribute to the novel’s thematic exploration of The Psychological Impact of Extreme Isolation?