The Night We Lost Him

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of illness or death.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Dave builds her mystery through alternating timelines that reveal both Liam’s past and his children’s present investigation. How did this narrative structure affect your engagement with the story? Which timeline did you find more compelling, and why?

2. The Night We Lost Him explores themes of family secrets and unexpected revelations, similar to Dave’s bestseller The Last Thing He Told Me. If you’ve read both novels, how do they compare in their exploration of hidden truths? If not, what elements of this mystery-unraveling approach most resonated with you?

3. The novel presents Liam as successful in business but struggling in personal relationships. How did your perception of Liam shift throughout the story as his relationship with Grace/Cory was gradually revealed? What moment most influenced your understanding of his character?

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

1. Throughout the novel, characters struggle to balance career ambitions with personal relationships. When have you faced similar challenges in prioritizing work versus building connections with loved ones? What strategies have you developed to navigate this tension?

2. Nora chooses to forge her own path rather than join the family business, valuing creative fulfillment over financial security or professional connections. When have you chosen to follow your own passion rather than a more conventional or expected path? What were the consequences?

3. The relationship between Liam and Grace/Cory spans decades, maintained through compartmentalization and secrecy. Have you witnessed or experienced relationships that existed in the margins of someone’s life? What impacts did that arrangement have on all involved?

4. Grief shapes many characters’ decisions in the novel, particularly Nora’s emotional withdrawal following her mother’s death. How did your own experiences with loss influence your understanding of the characters’ reactions to grief in the story?

5. At the novel’s conclusion, Sam and Nora both make significant changes after uncovering the truth about their father. When has a revelation about someone close to you prompted you to reevaluate your own life choices or behaviors?

6. The Noone siblings inherit patterns of emotional distance from their father. What relationship patterns have you recognized in yourself that echo your family of origin? How conscious are you of perpetuating or breaking these cycles?

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

1. The Night We Lost Him uses the luxury resort industry as a backdrop for exploring wealth and success. How does the novel’s portrayal of real estate development reflect contemporary attitudes toward achievement and status? What social commentary do you think Dave is making through her portrayal of the Noone Properties empire?

2. The characters in the novel largely define themselves by their careers rather than their personal relationships. How does this reflect broader societal shifts in how we identify ourselves and measure personal fulfillment in modern American culture?

3. The novel explores how secrets are kept across generations and their impact on family structures. How do you think our relationship with privacy and secrets in families has evolved compared to Liam and Grace’s era? Has technology made such long-term secrets more difficult to maintain?

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

1. Dave employs flashbacks to gradually reveal Liam’s history with Grace/Cory alongside the present-day investigation. How does this narrative technique enhance both the mystery element and our understanding of character motivations?

2. Architecture and real estate function as both literal professions and symbolic elements in the novel. How do these motifs reinforce the book’s themes about building relationships versus constructing material success?

3. Analyze the differing approaches to career and identity among the three Noone siblings. What do their individual arcs suggest about finding personal meaning within a family legacy? How do their professional choices reflect their relationships with their father?

4. Windbreak, Liam’s cottage on the California coast, serves as both a literal and symbolic space in the novel. How does this setting function beyond just a location, and what does it represent for different characters across generations?

5. The novel suggests that emotional patterns are transmitted across generations. Examine how Dave portrays this cycle through Liam’s parenting style and his children’s approaches to their own romantic relationships.

6. Grace/Cory’s decision to maintain a lifelong secretive relationship with Liam rather than marry him represents a crucial plot element. What does this choice reveal about her character, and how does it complicate our understanding of love and commitment in the novel?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Write a letter from Paul Turner to Grace’s children that he might have written after his confrontation with Sam and Nora. What would he want to explain about his relationship with Grace that wasn’t fully explored in the novel?

2. The story ends with hints of reconciliation between Nora and Jack. Describe a scene that might take place between them one year after the novel’s conclusion. How has their relationship evolved?

3. Develop a concept for one of Nora’s architectural projects that would honor both her father’s legacy and her own creative vision. What elements would you incorporate that reflect themes from the novel?

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