Penitence

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

1. How did you feel about Angie as a mother? How do her actions compare to the way that you have experienced parenting or observed your friends and family members parenting their children? 

2. How does this novel’s depiction of gun violence compare to your views on gun control, the right to bear arms, and gun violence in the United States? 

3. How would you respond if you were put into a situation like Angie and David’s?

4. What broader arguments does this text make about justice and mercy in the United States, particularly regarding incarceration and rehabilitation?

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

1. How does this book argue for the need for juvenile justice reform and rehabilitative treatment for juvenile offenders? Does it accurately reflect contemporary debates about punitive versus rehabilitative measures? Why or why not? 

2. Did you feel that the novel was explicitly in favor of gun control? Why or why not?

3. Research the 1990s crime bill that Julian and Martine reference. How do you see its provisions on display in this novel?

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

1. How do the flashback chapters help shape your understanding of the novel’s various characters? How did they change your view of Julian and Angie? How would the novel change if it was only told from the present timeline?

2. Discuss Martine’s characterization. What kinds of issues is she grappling with as she nears retirement, and how does her perspective shift during the narrative? 

3. Choose two characters in the novel and compare their relationships to The Complex Nature of Guilt and Forgiveness. Consider how the factors that impede their ability to forgive are similar and different. How is forgiveness central to their individual and intersecting character arcs?  

4. Penitence includes different settings, including Lodgepole, Colorado, New York City, and the detention facility in which Nora is incarcerated. What is the significance of each setting, and how do the varying settings contribute to the book’s tone?