Little Deaths (Flint) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for Little Deaths...then take off on your own:

1. Describe Ruth Malone. How does the author portray her? Talk about the way Ruth uses make-up (as a mask?) and seems obsessed with her appearance. What about her behavior after the deaths of her children?

2. Follow-up to Question 1: Equally important, how does Emma Flint portray Ruth's life as a single mother of two children, living in a working-class neighborhood in Queens Borough, New York City? Does the author do a good job of depicting the struggle of daily life for Ruth?

3. Why do the police detectives immediately focus in on Ruth; why are they so convinced she is a murderer? Does their alleged motive hold water? How does her behavior solidify their suspicions.

4. Whenever the cops accuse her, Ruth thinks to herself, "They knew nothing of guilt. They were not mothers.” Does this way of thinking—in your eyes—implicate her in anyway, or justify her, or excuse her?

5. What about Pete Wonicke? What motivates him to pursue the case on his own? What makes him suspicious of the police? Or is that he is simply fascinated by or attracted to Ruth?

6. Talk about the social mores of the day and how those mores drove the press and public, to say  nothing of the police, toward a condemnation of Ruth. To what degree, if any, have those attitudes changed in the past 50-so years?

7. Were you taken by surprise by the way the ended?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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