BKMT READING GUIDES
The Marriage Lie
by Kimberly Belle
Paperback : 352 pages
34 clubs reading this now
1 member has read this book
Bestselling author Kimberly Belle is back with a “domestic thriller [that] will keep you reading into the wee hours of the night.” —Redbook
"Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will eat up Kimberly Belle's latest novel."—Bookreporter.com
Everyone has secrets?
Iris and Will ...
Introduction
Bestselling author Kimberly Belle is back with a “domestic thriller [that] will keep you reading into the wee hours of the night.” —Redbook
"Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will eat up Kimberly Belle's latest novel."—Bookreporter.com
Everyone has secrets?
Iris and Will have been married for seven years, and life is as close to perfect as it can be. But on the morning Will flies out for a business trip to Florida, Iris's happy world comes to an abrupt halt: another plane headed for Seattle has crashed into a field, killing everyone on board and, according to the airline, Will was one of the passengers.
Grief stricken and confused, Iris is convinced it all must be a huge misunderstanding. Why did Will lie about where he was going? And what else has he lied about? As Iris sets off on a desperate quest to uncover what her husband was keeping from her, the answers she finds shock her to her very core.
Discussion Questions
Caution! Spoilers Ahead!--Paulinesecrets. What do you think of his reason for not telling? Is it ever necessary or justifiable to lie to someone you love? How much is too much to hide from a partner?
2. Along those lines, does Iris bear any of the blame for accepting her husband’s secrecy about his past? Should she have spotted the holes in his stories sooner in their relationship? In what ways was Iris lying to herself?
3. When Iris discovers Will’s disadvantaged youth in Seattle, she understands his need to own a home that essentially would make them house poor. In what other ways do you think his past difficulties affected the life he built with Iris?
4. Take a moment to talk about Will. Is he a sympathetic character? Do you believe he became a good man, one who had truly left his past sins behind? To what extent does a person’s past influence or define his future?
5. Iris’s job as psychologist plays a pivotal role in her life and in her beliefs, and yet she doesn’t see her husband’s true nature. Why do you think this is? Is love really that blind, or does Iris only see what she wants to see?
6. Iris has a special bond with one of her students, Eva, a beautiful teenager who, despite all her wealth and advantages, still can’t find happiness. What do you think the author was trying to say with this character? How does Eva’s message relate back to the story of Iris and Will?
7. After the crash, Iris finds a friend in Evan Sheffield. Do you think, had they met in other circumstances, that they would have become friends? Or was their friendship a result of their shared trauma and grief? What do you think their relationship looks like a year down the road? Five years?
8. Did the truth about Corban surprise you? If not, at what point did you begin to suspect?
9. Iris says to Will, “I should hate you. I want to hate you. I want to be physically ill because I’m sitting in the same room as you, but I’m not. I don’t. I still love you and I despise myself for it.” Can you understand how she feels? Have you ever loved and hated someone at the same time?
10. In the last scene, even though the reasons Iris pushes the panic button aren’t clear in her mind, she’s positive it is the right thing to do. Do you agree? Would you have done the same in her position? Does pushing that button give Iris closure? Where do you think she will go from here?
Book Club Recommendations
Recommended to book clubs by 2 of 2 members.
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