The Maidens

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

1. Did you predict any of the novel’s plot twists? Which ones did you predict, and which surprised you? In general, do you need to be surprised in order to enjoy a thriller?

2. What is your opinion of groups like “the maidens”? Do you think the existence of groups like this can ever be healthy?

3. What is the campus culture like at Cambridge University, as the novel depicts it? Does this align with your own knowledge of university culture?

4. Mariana is a therapist and therefore untrained to conduct the investigation she gets pulled into. What would you do if you found yourself enmeshed in a mystery you weren’t qualified to address?

5. The novel’s characters engage in myth-making practices about both other people and their own lives. Do you believe this kind of mythmaking is helpful or unhelpful, or does it depend on the context?

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

1. How does this novel complicate the typical association between violence and masculinity? Considering that over 80% of serial killers are men, what is the purpose of Zoe being revealed as the murderer?

2. What commentary do you think this novel is offering on rape culture and sexual coercion (particularly in the context of relationships that involve power disparities)? Does this commentary hold true in real-world contexts?

3. How does this novel portray the relationship between mental health and violence? Does it perpetuate any stereotypical associations between mental illness and violent actions, or does it sufficiently complicate this dynamic?

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

1. How does this novel use an older protagonist (the 36-year-old widow Mariana) to complicate and subvert typical tropes of the dark academia genre?

2. Count as many types of “mythmaking” as you can find in this novel, ranging from explicit lies, to subconscious mythologizing, to literal mythological stories. How does this mythmaking advance the work’s themes, characterization, and/or plot?

3. How does the theme of trauma develop both the novel’s characterizations and its plot?

4. How do the point-of-view chapters from the murderer affect the narrative’s tone? What do these chapters add that Mariana’s point of view alone doesn’t provide?

5. How are key symbols, like swans and the stained-glass window, used as both symbols and foreshadowing?