Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for The World After Alice by Lauren Aliza Green

Book Club Discussion Questions

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Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Morgan and Alice's friendship was as close as it was consuming and competitive, built on an addictive relativity. What do you think bound them together, and what do you think created distance between them? Have you ever had a friendship like this?
2. Many of the characters in The World After Alice are grappling with what it means to be exceptional—as a parent, as a spouse, as well as artistically, intellectually, and professionally. How do they manage these pressures in the novel, and how do you see it affecting their relationships? Is this something you struggle with in your own life?
3. The characters in the novel are each privately implicated in Alice's death, and have been living with the guilt and grief for years. Discuss how they have each digested this culpability, and how you think they formed their lives around it. Do you think there's a right way to grieve?
4. On p. 306, Linnie says that life is full of "moments the old you dies, and you become someone new." Do you believe this is true? Have you had moments that have marked a beginning and an after in your life?
5. How does the novel's setting influence the story, both past and present? What do you think New York City represents? What about Maine?
6. The novel is fundamentally concerned with how we live in the aftermath of tragedy. By the end, which characters do you think are able to grow and evolve beyond their dark pasts? Which do you think will continue to be burdened by guilt and grief?
7. Discuss the role of ambition in the novel. What effect does achievement—and wealth, more broadly—have on the characters' identities? What about their relationships? What do you think the novel is illuminating about the impact of class and upward mobility on personal relationships?
8. The World After Alice contains a variety of ideas about philosophy, psychology, and religion, particularly regarding interpretations of death and the afterlife. Did any of these perspectives resonate with you personally? Is there a belief system that you turn to when it comes to reckoning with mortality and processing tragedy?
9. In a way, Linnie is involved in two love triangles: with Alice and Ezra, and with Nick and Caro. How do these couples' romantic histories haunt their current relationships? What do you think the novel is exploring about second chances and enduring connections, despite the separate paths these characters may take? Have you ever transformed a relationship from platonic to intimate or vice versa?
10. Benji and Morgan had very different upbringings, with distinctive nuclear families. What kind of family do you think they will build together? What have you retained from your upbringing, and what have you chosen to discard?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Viking. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.