The Coworker

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. How did you respond to the narrative revelation that Dawn Schiff was alive? How did this plot twist change your impression of the overarching narrative and Natalie Farrell’s character?

2. The novel blurs the line between the victim and the perpetrator. How did the novel’s representations of bullying and cycles of violence impact you emotionally?

3. Did you find Dawn’s or Natalie’s character more relatable? Which aspects of each character was most familiar or believable, based on your own experience? Discuss how and why.

4. Vixed is the novel’s primary backdrop. Discuss how McFadden represents this workplace environment. How does the Vixed culture compare and contrast to your own vocational experiences?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The novel explores the complexities of office politics via the Vixed company culture. What do these office-based dynamics say about power and control? How does the Vixed atmosphere dictate the primary characters’ behaviors, and how do their behaviors relate to the effects of office culture on employees’ psyches?

2. Both Dawn and Natalie have dark sides. What does McFadden’s complex characterization of both women say about human nature? What role do violence and victimization play in the women’s patterns of manipulation?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. The novel is primarily written from Natalie’s first-person point of view. How does Natalie’s perspective dictate the narrative’s primary conflicts, stakes, and themes? How would the plot line elapse differently if the novel were written from an alternate perspective? 

2. Discuss the narrative, atmospheric, and thematic significance of Dawn’s emails. How does this formal device impact the way Dawn appears? What do her voice, tone, and writing style imply about her character? 

3. Discuss the symbolic significance of turtles throughout The Coworker. How do repeated images of turtles relate to Dawn’s character and her treatment at Vixed?

4. The novel explores the deceptive nature of appearances. How do Dawn’s and Natalie’s self-presentations relate to their interiorities? 

5. Discuss how The Coworker satisfies and/or subverts the expectations of the psychological thriller genre. Which tropes does McFadden employ, and what is the effect? Which tropes does she subvert? How and why?