She's Not Sorry

Meghan is a lonely, isolated character. Explore how Meghan’s past has inspired her alienation. How is her emotional despondency in the narrative present related to her decisions over the years prior? How does Meghan try to both deny and to resolve her loneliness, and why?

Is Meghan a dynamic or a static character? Craft an argument supporting your claim. Consider how Meghan sees and describes herself at the start of the novel. Do her modes of self-expression and self-presentation change over time? How do the other characters see her over the course of the narrative, and do their impressions of her evolve? If so, how? If not, why?

Meghan attaches herself to Nat Cohen almost immediately after they meet. Analyze the power dynamics in this evolving relationship and the ways in which the characters’ desire for control dictates their dynamic. What sorts of things do the characters do to manipulate one another? What actions do they take to care for each other? How do these power dynamics shift once they start learning the truth about each other?

Explore Meghan’s reasons for attempting to disassociate from her past. What traumatic events has she experienced? What losses has she suffered? What mistakes has she made? How does burying her past impact her psychologically and emotionally in the present, and why?

Consider the novel’s nonchronological narrative structure. What effect does this structure have? How does it support the novel’s themes?

Analyze how Meghan’s personal and professional lives beget contrasting identities. How does she see herself at work, and how does she see herself at home? How does Caitlin’s presence confuse Meghan’s ability to balance her alternate selves?

How do the robberies augment the narrative tension and accelerate the narrative pacing? How does Luke’s violence against women compare to the violence the novel’s women perpetrate against each other? Analyze the intersection between the novel’s network of conflicts and how these formal dynamics relate to the narrative’s themes.

Explore how Meghan’s relationships with Sienna and Ben evolve over the course of the novel. How do shifts in their familial dynamics impact Meghan’s character arc? How does Meghan understand herself in the context of her family? How do her family members regard her in the context of their family structure, and why? What does this familial realm indicate about Meghan’s true nature?