Verity

1. General Impressions

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

• Discuss your reaction to the novel’s exploration of the blurred lines between reality and fiction, especially in Verity's manuscript. How does this ambiguity affect your understanding of the characters and the story?
• What stylistic techniques does Hoover use to create the novel’s dark, suspenseful atmosphere? How do the tense and unsettling moments in the book shape your overall impressions?
• Compare and contrast Verity with Hoover’s other thrillers, such as Too Late. How does each novel portray the experience of a woman discovering a life-changing secret? How does Verity differ in its portrayal of manipulation, deceit, and Lowen’s search for truth?

2. Personal Reflection and Connection

Connect the book’s themes and characters with personal experiences and perspectives.

• Consider how the characters respond to and perpetuate the secrets and lies around them. How do the betrayals and secrets in the novel resonate with your own experiences or fears?
• What would you do in Lowen’s situation if you discovered Verity’s manuscript? Would you tell someone about it? Confront Verity? Why or why not?
• Have you ever sleepwalked or experienced other sleep-related issues, such as night terrors or sleep paralysis? How did you feel in these situations? Do you relate to Lowen’s experience?
• Do you relate to Lowen, Jeremy, or Verity’s experience of loss? How does loss affect their outlook and approach to relationships?

3. Societal and Cultural Context

Examine the book’s relevance to broader societal issues, cultural trends, and ethical dilemmas.

• The novel raises questions about the ethics of storytelling, particularly in the context of Verity’s manuscript. How does Verity contribute to the conversation about the responsibilities of writers to distinguish fact from fiction in autobiographical writing?
• Discuss the novel’s commentary on the cultural and societal expectations placed on women. especially in the roles of wife and mother. How does the novel challenge or reinforce the expectations of women to be wives and mothers, and what does it suggest about the pressures women face? By contrast, how is Jeremy free from these pressures and how does that affect his decisions in the novel?

4. Literary Analysis

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

• Consider Lowen and Verity’s dual perspectives. How are these characters foils for one another? Why does Lowen believe that Verity is capable of doing the things she reads about in Verity’s manuscript?
• Discuss the metatextual approach about a psychological thriller written about a thriller writer. What does Verity share with other thrillers written about writers, such as Stephen King’s Misery and The Shining?
• Discuss the relationship between sex and death in the novel. How does Lowen’s attraction to Jeremy influence her perception of Verity’s supposed crimes? How do Lowen’s and Jeremy’s experiences of loss deepen their attraction to one another?
• What are the ethical implications about Jeremy’s infidelity with Lowen? Does Lowen have an ethical responsibility to abstain from participating in an affair, or does that responsibility fall solely on Jeremy?
• Discuss the importance of setting in the novel. How do the major locations, such as New York City and Vermont, affect the novel’s plot, atmosphere, and themes?

5. Creative Engagement 

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book’s content and themes.

• Write an antagonistic journal entry from the perspective of an evil or villainous character based on yourself. How does it feel to embody that perspective? Does the exercise provide an emotional or psychological release or is it a purely intellectual and creative experience?
• Do you consider the novel to have a happy ending? If not, how would you change the ending to give characters the ending they deserve?

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