The Divorce Book Club Questions
by Freida McFadden
These questions assume everyone has finished the book and contain spoilers, including the ending.
The Divorce pulls you into a messy, twisted marriage where nothing is as it seems. It is a great book club pick because it raises uncomfortable questions about motherhood, manipulation, and how far people will go for the children they love. Readers will disagree about who to trust and who to blame.
Use these questions to guide your discussion. Start with whatever topic grabs your group, or move through them in order. There are no right answers, so let different opinions surface. You can also compare how your views shift after the twists.
Narrator and Paternity
- 1.The prologue says the narrator did it all 'for him,' and the epilogue is from Jeremy's point of view. Who do you think that 'him' was all along—Teddy, Jeremy, or Ronnie herself?
- 2.Jeremy changes the locks, packs Naomi's bags, retains every good lawyer, and later tells Ronnie he played dirty. At what point did you start to suspect he was secretly sabotaging Naomi rather than simply divorcing her?
- 3.Naomi swaps Jeremy's paternity swab with Mr. Roth's, and later the DNA test reveals Teddy is Ronnie's son. Were you surprised by the DNA reveal, and does it make Jeremy's earlier confidence about paternity more sinister or more pathetic?
Two Kinds of Mothers
- 4.Naomi believes she rescued Teddy from a junkie and is his true mother, while Ronnie believes Naomi stole Dominic and changed his name. Did you sympathize with one woman's claim more than the other?
- 5.Did you agree with Naomi's choice to take the crying baby from the car at the rest stop, or was that the moment she stopped being a savior and became a kidnapper?
- 6.Ronnie stays in the ambulance with Teddy rather than going to the hospital because she is afraid they will be separated. Did you agree with that choice, or should she have prioritized medical care for Teddy?
- 7.Naomi plans to set the fire, rescue Teddy, and play the hero, while Ronnie actually rescues Teddy from the burning house. What does that contrast say about each woman's idea of motherhood?
Jeremy and Teddy
- 8.Jeremy learns Teddy is not his biological son but decides Teddy is his anyway and gets rid of Clay Barkley. Do you think Jeremy truly loved Teddy, or was Teddy just a possession he refused to lose?
- 9.The elephant toy moves from Ronnie's keeping for Dominic to Teddy's birthday gift to a knife-stabbed piece of evidence in Jeremy's plot. What did the elephant mean to each of them?
Outside Pressures and Stakes
- 10.Naomi repeatedly hears her mother's voice telling her to get rid of Veronica and believes 'my mother is always right.' How much responsibility should Naomi's mother carry for what her daughter does?
- 11.Ezra Fletcher spends most of the book as Naomi's ally, but in the cellar he knocks her out and sacrifices himself to save Veronica and Teddy. Why do you think he switched sides, and did his final choice redeem him?
- 12.Rosita tearfully tells Naomi she needs her job, but Jeremy later reveals he hired Rosita to make Naomi look unreliable. Do you see Rosita as a victim of Jeremy's manipulation or as a willing accomplice?
- 13.Naomi shows up at Teddy's birthday party despite being uninvited, and her refusal to leave ends with her arrest and the order of protection. Did you agree with her decision to go, or should she have stayed away to protect her custody case?
The Ending
- 14.The epilogue leaves Jeremy free to start a new life with Ronnie after Naomi and Clay both die. Is this a satisfying ending, a horrifying one, or a bit of both?
- 15.Jeremy ends by vowing to kill anyone who tries to take Teddy. Given everything he did to Clay and Naomi, do you think Ronnie is actually safe with him, or is she just the next person in his way?