Discussion Questions to Guide Your Reflection
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Chapter 39 departs from the narrative structure of the preceding chapters and instead presents a series of ten discussion questions designed for book clubs or individual readers. The questions follow the novel's chronological narrative arc, beginning with Fern and Will's initial meeting and working through the major relationship developments and thematic concerns of the story.
The first question asks readers to consider whether they have ever experienced a strong, fast connection with another person, as Fern and Will do over the course of a single day, and what might explain such bonds. The second question shifts to how Fern's and Will's respective life stages shape their friendship at the time they meet, and whether they would have been drawn to each other at a different point in their lives.
The third question returns to a moment from earlier in the novel—Fern's reflection in chapter 5 that secrets are a key ingredient in close friendships—and asks whether readers agree and whether Fern still holds that belief by the end of the book. The fourth question turns to the evolution of Whitney and Fern's friendship, inviting readers to consider whether their own long-lasting friendships have experienced similar ups and downs.
The fifth question addresses Fern and Jamie's relationship in both the past and the present, and poses a counterfactual: whether they would have stayed together if Fern had never met Will. The sixth question connects Will's twenty-four hours with Fern to his later decision to move back to Toronto after learning his sister is pregnant, asking whether their time together influenced that choice.
The seventh question centers on Fern's decision, in her thirties, to give her relationship with Will a chance despite his actions and the secrets he has kept, given that she had been on hiatus from relationships because she didn't think they were worth the effort. The eighth question turns to Fern's guilt about her mother, asking what readers make of Maggie and Fern's relationship and whether Fern's decision to stay on at the resort is driven by guilt or something else.
The ninth question asks whether Maggie and Peter's love story reads as sad or happy. The final question broadens to the novel's overarching theme that life doesn't always work out as planned, inviting readers to reflect on whether their own lives look like what they pictured when they were younger.
Key Events
Since this chapter is composed of discussion questions rather than narrative events, the key events are the story moments the questions reference:
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Fern and Will's initial meeting and the fast bond they form over a single day
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Fern's earlier reflection on secrets as a key ingredient in close friendships
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The evolution of Whitney and Fern's friendship over time
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Fern and Jamie's relationship in both past and present timelines
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Will learning his sister is pregnant after his time with Fern
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Will's decision to move back to Toronto to help his sister
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Fern's hiatus from relationships and her choice to give Will a chance despite his secrets
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Fern's guilt about her mother and her decision to stay at the resort
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Maggie and Peter's love story and its emotional register
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The novel's treatment of life not going as planned
Character Development
The discussion questions trace Fern's arc from guardedness to openness. Early in the novel, she holds that secrets are essential to close friendships, and she has stepped away from romantic relationships entirely, believing they aren't worth the effort. By the end, she chooses to give Will a chance despite his secrets and his actions—a decision that signals meaningful growth in her willingness to take emotional risks.
The questions also highlight Fern's relationship with her mother. Fern carries significant guilt about Maggie, and the questions push readers to consider whether her decision to stay at the resort stems from that guilt or from something more complex, such as genuine love, obligation, or a desire to honor her mother's legacy.
Will's development is addressed through the question about his move back to Toronto. The question implies that his time with Fern may have shifted his perspective on family, commitment, or what he wants from his life, even though the connection between the two events is left open for interpretation.
The questions about Whitney and Fern, and about Fern and Jamie, invite readers to consider how friendships and relationships evolve across life stages and circumstances—whether they deepen, fray, or transform.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Fast connections: The opening question centers on the plausibility and nature of intense, immediate bonds between people, asking what makes such connections possible.
Life stages: The second question explores how timing and life circumstances shape whether two people connect, suggesting that compatibility isn't fixed but depends on where each person is in their life.
Secrets in friendships: Fern's earlier belief about secrets is revisited, inviting readers to consider whether honesty or concealment is more fundamental to close relationships, and whether Fern's view has changed.
Guilt and mother-daughter relationships: The questions about Maggie and Fern probe the complexity of parental relationships, particularly the weight of guilt and the motivations behind adult children's choices.
Love story interpretation: The question about whether Maggie and Peter's story is sad or happy acknowledges that the same narrative can be read in different emotional registers depending on what the reader values.
Life not going as planned: The final question names this as a central theme of the book, inviting readers to connect the novel's events to their own experiences of unexpected outcomes.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 39 serves as a reflective capstone for the novel. By framing the book's major events and character arcs as discussion questions, it invites readers to move from passive consumption to active engagement with the story's themes. The questions are designed to prompt personal reflection—readers are asked whether they've experienced fast connections, whether their friendships have had similar ups and downs, and whether their lives look like what they pictured.
The chapter also reinforces the novel's central concerns by returning to key moments: Fern's belief about secrets, her guilt about her mother, her decision to give Will a chance, and the question of whether Maggie and Peter's love story is sad or happy. In doing so, it highlights the interpretive openness of the novel—many of the questions don't have single right answers, which mirrors the book's own treatment of relationships and life choices as complex and multifaceted.
For readers in a book club setting, this chapter provides a structured way to discuss the novel. For individual readers, it offers an opportunity to reflect on how the story resonates with their own experiences.
Study Questions and Answers
1. How does Fern's view of secrets in friendships change over the course of the novel, based on the discussion questions?
The discussion questions reference Fern's earlier belief that secrets are a key ingredient in close friendships, and then ask whether she still believes this by the end of the book. The question implies that Fern's experiences—particularly with Will's secrets and her own decision to give him a chance despite them—may have complicated or shifted her original view. The novel's resolution suggests that Fern comes to understand that while secrets can protect or define relationships, they can also create distance, and that trust and honesty may ultimately matter more.
2. What does the question about Maggie and Peter's love story reveal about the novel's approach to interpreting relationships?
The question asks whether Maggie and Peter's love story is sad or happy, which acknowledges that the same relationship can be read in different ways depending on what the reader emphasizes. A reader focused on the loss or the obstacles might call it sad; a reader focused on the depth of the connection or the time they had together might call it happy. This openness reflects the novel's broader treatment of relationships as complex and not easily categorized, and it invites readers to bring their own values and experiences to the interpretation.
3. Why does the final question about life not going as planned serve as an appropriate closing for the discussion questions?
The final question broadens the scope from the specific events of the novel to the reader's own life, asking whether their life looks like what they pictured when they were younger. This connects the novel's theme—that life doesn't always work out as planned—to the reader's personal experience, which is the ultimate goal of a discussion question. It also echoes the novel's own narrative, in which Fern's life takes unexpected turns through her mother's death, her return to the resort, and her reconnection with Will, none of which she could have predicted.
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