That Night

The torn document found on William McGovern’s body shapes Cathy and Joe’s decisions and their trust in one another, even as they lack the context to understand its meaning. In what other ways does a lack of context impact their ability to make decisions?

How does Lydia’s personal history, which is distinct from the shared history of the Plant siblings, allow her to see their actions more clearly than they do?

How does the veterinary practice function both as a professional refuge and as a site of escalating conflict for Cathy and Joe? What does this symbolize about their relationships to each other and to their profession?

Throughout the novel, Joe views himself as his sisters’ primary protector. How does this protective role relate to his increasing reliance on physical intimidation and violence?

During the trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Cathy’s testimony against Joe is shaped by an agreement made privately in Frannie’s shed. How does the novel depict the relationship between the official legal proceedings and the actual events that took place?

Digital records such as a failed cashpoint transaction, deleted email threads, and an incoming call over a car’s hands-free system repeatedly complicate the siblings’ plans. What do these electronic traces suggest about the impact of digital surveillance on privacy?

Cathy visits “Juliet’s Balcony” (a tourist attraction built centuries after Romeo and Juliet was written) after her failed cashpoint transaction. What does this setting symbolize about the Plant family?

What does the narrative achieve by periodically shifting the third-person perspective to Lydia in the chapters set in Verona and England?