Introduction

Lee Child says it’s “stunning… certain to be a book of the year.”

Kathy Reichs calls it “extraordinary… a major achievement.”

Gillian Flynn says of Karin Slaughter: “I’d follow her anywhere.”

Sisters. Strangers. Survivors.

More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.

The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.

Powerful, poignant, and utterly gripping, packed with indelible characters and unforgettable twists, Pretty Girls is a masterful novel from one of the finest writers working today.

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Discussion Questions

From Mentor Public Library:

1. Did you like the book? Why or why not?

2. The book was written from multiple characters’ points of view. Was it successfully done? Did it help or harm the story?

3. Do you think that Sam’s letters to Julia were an effective story telling device? Did it bother you that the journals/letters never had either of their names associated with them?

4. Do you think this book was too graphically violent, not descriptive enough, or was it just right in order to generate suspense?

5. Who was your favorite character and why? Who was your least liked character?

6. Did you find the characters in this story believable?

7. Julia’s disappearance made a huge impact on her family. Why do you think each family member reacted the way they did?

8. Sam writes, "When you first disappeared, your mother warned me that finding out exactly what happened to you would be worse than never knowing." Which do you think is worse – knowing or never knowing?

9. What did you know...and when did you know it? At what point in the book did you begin to piece together what happened?

10. Why do you think Claire destroyed Paul’s things after the funeral?

11. Why do you think Paul pays (through a shell corporation) for Dee’s private school education?

12. One of the criticisms of this book was that, after the “big reveal”, the antagonist’s actions become cliché or over-the-top unbelievable. Do you think that is true or do you think that he was a fully realized, independent character?

13. “The world stops for you when you’re pretty.” Lydia says this when telling Rick that pretty women can get or get away with anything. Do you think that is true? Is this why women use cosmetics and try to make themselves attractive?

14. Do the lies Paul told change Claire’s past? (i.e. The fact that she believed she was happy and lived “perfect” life/marriage.)
15. Do you think Lydia is happy with her current life? Why or why not?


16. Do you think Paul loved Claire? Why or why not?

17. Was Claire justified in what she did at the end? Did she have a choice? Was there a better option?

18. Should Claire go out with Nolan?

19. Did you find the ending satisfying? Did the story seem complete to you?

20. Karin Slaughter has written 18 books. Will you read any of them?

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