Hollow Bones Book Club Questions

Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult is an unforgettable book that touches on grief, loss, and mental illness. I think this would be a fantastic pick for book club. I made a list of Hollow Bones Book Club Questions, along with a discussion guide. Like all of Picoult’s books, it is compulsively readable, despite its difficult themes.

Molly Fitzgerald lost her mother when she was two months old in the attack on the World Trade Center. Now, she runs the Rhode Island Department of Emergency Preparedness. Her husband, Jesse, is a police polygraph expert who also has a history of crisis of his own.

When Molly discovers she is pregnant, it sets off a chain of events that leads them to question everything. This is a dual-timeline narrative that looks at Molly’s life as an adult as well as her mother, Eloise, pre 9/11. How much do we inherit from our parents, and how much do we learn?

This is a compulsively readable book that I could not put down. It deals with many complex issues but in a way that brings awareness rather than stoking fear. There are difficult topics central to the plot of this book, but somehow, Picoult makes them approachable. I love how quickly this story moved and how much I felt for the characters. I finished this book with a feeling of hope and I loved every minute.

I created a list of book club questions for Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult because I knew that I wanted to talk about this book. I cannot wait for everyone to read this so I can process my thoughts fully. I also created this list of Book Club Questions (+PDF). These are universal questions you can use in addition to the specific ones below.

**The Hollow Bones book club questions will have spoilers. **

Please be aware that if you read this list of questions, the ending and surprises will be spoiled

Hollow Bones Book Club Questions and Discussion Guide

Trigger Warnings
9/11 and post 9/11, Postpartum depression, disaster preparedness, sexual and physical abuse of a child, rape, suicidal thoughts, Psychosis

1. Molly grew up with no memories of her mother, only the stories she heard from Evie and Adam. How do you think this shaped her life?
2. Both Jesse and Molly have experienced trauma (Jesse Fitzgerald is the oldest sibling in My Sister’s Keeper by Picoult. He resorted to Arson to get attention from his parents). Do you think one of them found a healthier way to cope?
3. Generational trauma is grief and trauma passed down to people who did not personally experience it. How do you think 9/11 will affect the next generation?
4. Does having trauma define who we will be?
5. How much of your identity was shaped by your parents?
6. Molly spends her life preparing for disasters that are out of her control. Do you think her preparedness helps her feel secure, or do you think it keeps her trapped in the trauma cycle?
7. Do you think spending so much time preparing for the worst can inhibit enjoyment of the present?
8. The mosaics that Eloise creates are a metaphor for her life: even broken things can be made beautiful again. Do you think Molly will be able to heal after the traumas that she went through?
9. What does it mean to be a good mother?
10. Can someone be a good mother and still make decisions that endanger her child?
11. What did you think of Eloise’s actions?
12. What did you think of Evie and Adam’s decision to withhold vital information about Eloise from Molly?
13. Is lying to protect someone you love wrong? Where do you draw the line between protecting someone and denying them the truth? Does your answer depend on whether you believe the person is capable of handling the truth?
14. If the made-up story is allowing someone to survive, does the truth hurt or heal?
15. Who gets to decide what another person should know?
16. What did you think about Eloise’s decision to leave?
17. Do you think there is anything she could have said to make people listen to her?
18. Why do you think Eloise wasn’t believed when she tried to explain what she was experiencing?
19. What does the book suggest about the way women’s mental health and physical health is understood and treated?
20. Evie raised Molly and became a mother in every way (other than biologically). What do you think makes someone a mother?
21. Why do you think Evie left after Eloise came back?
22. Evie makes several complicated (and questionable) decisions about Eloise. Do you think she was trying to protect Molly, Adam, herself, or a combination of the three?
23. How did Evie’s relationship with Eloise influence the choices she made?
24. Do you think Evie had malicious intent when she told Eloise she had tried to drown Molly?
25. Do you think Adam loved Evie?
26. What do you think the title Hollow Bones means in relation to the characters and themes of the book?

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Epilogue

Will you be using the Hollow Bones book club questions for your next book club?