Reading Groups

If your reading group would like to meet Susanna for a discussion on one of her books or would like to set up an email conversation with her, contact her publisher.

Click on the book titles below to view the discussion questions suggested by various reading groups Susanna has visited.

The Missing Person's Guide To Love
  1. Who is the missing person of the title?

  2. What do you think it means when Maggie talks of ‘writing the wrong’ in the first chapter?

  3. What is the relationship between Maggie’s chapters and Isabel’s chapters and what connections can you find between them?

  4. Maggie’s chapters are written in the third person and Isabel’s in the first person. What do you think the author has written it this way and not told both stories in the first or third person?

  5. Maggie is a fiction writer. What does the novel say about the processes and responsibilities of writing fiction?

  6. Maggie has power over the teenage girls. Why is this and how does she use it?

  7. Isabel claims that she doesn’t want to travel or do very much with her life at all. Why, then, do you think her life turns out to be so eventful?

  8. Why is Isabel so uncertain about events that happened in her teenage years?

  9. Isabel’s world is not always clear and she is sometimes hazy about the past (and present). Is she a reliable narrator and why do things sometimes turn surreal?

  10. What is the purpose of the text messages that pop up through the novel?

  11. The novel has a very intricate structure with many layers of time. How does this work and who do you think is driving the narrative, Maggie, Isabel or both?

  12. he novel is, in many ways, about a homecoming. Is the village really home for Isabel? Where do you think she feels most at home?

  13. What is the riddle referred to on the penultimate page and why will the moment of the photograph ‘last and tease’?

  14. What does Maggie mean, at the end, when she says that ‘the dead girl might win’?

  15. As a homecoming novel, how does ‘The Missing Person’s Guide to Love’ relate to ‘The Earthquake Bird’ and ‘Water Lily’?

  16. It has been said that the title ‘The Missing Person’s Guide to Love’ could apply to all three of Jones’ novels. Would you agree with this?

 

Water Lily
  1. How old do you imagine Runa to be when we first meet her?

  2. The two main characters are searching for love. Who do you think has the more romantic view of love? Which of them, if either, is more realistic about love and relationships?

  3. In ‘The Earthquake Bird’ there are many details of time and place. ‘Water Lily’ has fewer references to specific towns and places. Why do you think this is?

  4. Ralph’s motives for his trip are clear from the beginning. Does he have other motives and does your view of him shift as the novel progresses?

  5. Runa and Ralph are both, in a sense, runaways. Do their past lives explain or justify their need to escape their ‘normal’ lives?

  6. Jones has been compared to Patricia Highsmith for the moral ambiguity of her novels. Would you say that either Ralph or Runa has a strong sense of morality and, if so, what is that based on?

  7. How would you describe the atmosphere on the boat and in what way does this contribute to the unfolding of events?

  8. What are the roles of the minor characters on the boat?

  9. Which of the two characters do you think is stronger, psychologically?

  10. Ralph and Runa travel alone, away from friends and family. How might solo travel affect their behaviour and perceptions?

  11. Do you think the author intended any moral judgement of the victim at the end of the novel?

  12. If the novel were to continue for one more chapter, what do you imagine might happen?

  13. If genders were reversed and the story was about a male teacher involved in a scandal and a woman visiting agencies abroad for a husband, would you judge the characters differently?

  14. What is the ‘water lily’ of the novel’s title?

 

The Earthquake Bird
  1. Why do you think Lucy Fly feels at home in Japan?

  2. Lucy meets Teiji as he is taking a photograph of Tokyo. What does this moment mean for each of them and why is Lucy attracted to Teiji?

  3. To what extent is Lucy a reliable narrator? Can you trust everything she says?

  4. Why do you think she sometimes refers to herself in the third person?

  5. The novel has been described as a ‘hymn to Tokyo’ (Daily Telegraph). Do you agree with this and what is Lucy’s relationship with the city?

  6. Lucy claims that she never wanted to become friends with Lily. Why do think she becomes so close to her?

  7. Does your view of Lucy change as the story progresses? If so, how?

  8. Lucy plays a part in the deaths of several people. Is she responsible for any of those deaths? How does she connect these deaths to the disappearance of Lily?

  9. The story is told mainly through flashbacks to different parts of Lucy’s life. Why do you think the author chose to structure the novel in this way?

  10. Why does Lucy say, near the end, that she is hoping to be convicted of murder?

  11. Do you think Lucy could have killed Lily? Does your view change at any point in the narrative?

  12. Does Lucy achieve any kind of reconciliation at the end? What do you imagine might happen next?