The Good Girl

Why is Mia’s name-change significant? How else does she lose her sense of self?

Many characters bond over their shared sorrows—Gabe and Colin; Colin and Mia. What role does empathy play in the development of these characters?

Why does Eve describe her relationship with her husband as “imperialistic”? What does this say about James’s character?

How does the cabin transform over the course of the novel? What causes this transformation?

How does Eve’s grief speak to a more universal experience of motherhood? Trace Eve’s emotional experience in the months after Mia’s disappearance.

The characters in the novel struggle to love and be loved. How does this struggle influence their actions, and how do they atone for their sins?

Kubica criticizes certain kinds of masculinity in this novel. How do Gabe, James, and Colin struggle with their sense of self? How do they embrace gentleness, and how and why do they lash out?

What is the symbolic significance of Mia keeping her child?