Austin Chapter
Reader's Guide
March 2006
The Lost Night
Rachel Howard
In 1986, when the author was 10, her father was stabbed while sleeping next to his third wife; his murder remains unsolved. After years of pretending the memories of that night haven't affected her, and about to get married and enter a new phase of life, Howard sets out to untangle what she and her family can recall of her father's life and death...
- What was your reaction to the subtitle of the book before you read the book? After you read the book?
- How did the extensive use of dialog help tell the story?
- What do you know about her father from the wives he chose: Aleta (her mother)? Natalie? Sherrie?
- The book is divided into a prologue, four parts and an epilogue. How would you title each of the four parts?
- What do you think is the reason she wrote the memoir? Why did she do so much research? Did she find what she was looking for? What lessons did she learn?
- She gives us a lot of detail about place—the houses she lived in the neighborhoods, etc. Why do you think this was important to her?
- How would you relate to Sherrie? Do you think she killed Stan?
- What do you think she is telling us in the Afterword?
- Do you feel she left us hanging? Why or why not?
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