Trespasses

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of graphic violence, death, bullying, substance use, and mental illness.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What did you make of Kennedy’s decision to frame Cushla’s story with the 2015 museum scenes? How did knowing from the opening that Michael’s fate was already sealed affect your reading experience? Did this structure enhance or diminish the emotional impact of their romance?

2. Kennedy’s portrayal of forbidden love across religious and class divides brings to mind other star-crossed romances like those in Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair or even classic works like Romeo and Juliet. How did Trespasses compare to other stories of impossible love you’ve read, and what made this particular romance feel distinctive or universal?

3. Cushla’s final encounter with Davy at the museum offers a bittersweet resolution decades after the main events. How satisfying did you find this ending, and what emotions did it leave you with regarding Cushla’s journey from a young teacher to the woman with three children and four grandchildren?

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

1. Cushla repeatedly finds herself caught between her desires and her sense of duty, whether caring for her mother or helping the McGeown family. Think about times when you’ve had to choose between what you wanted and what felt morally right or practically necessary. How did you navigate those competing demands?

2. What resonated with you about Cushla’s role as a caretaker for her mother Gina? Have you experienced the challenges of supporting a family member through addiction, depression, or other mental health conditions? If so, how did Cushla’s situation mirror or differ from your own experiences?

3. The novel shows how Cushla often feels like an outsider, whether among Michael’s wealthy friends or in her predominantly Protestant town. When have you felt similarly out of place or self-conscious about your background, and how did you handle those moments of feeling like you didn’t quite belong?

4. Cushla’s decision to shelter the McGeown family despite the potential consequences reflects her willingness to act on her principles. Can you think of a time when you chose to help someone even though it might cost you personally? What motivated your decision, and how do you feel about it now?

5. The friendship between Cushla and Gerry develops into something genuine and supportive, even though it begins as a somewhat convenient arrangement. How have you seen friendships in your own life evolve from practical or surface-level connections into deeper, more authentic relationships?

6. Looking at Cushla’s journey from the 1970s to 2015, she carries both love and regret from her time with Michael. What experiences from your past do you find yourself revisiting decades later, and how has your perspective on those events changed over time?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. How does the sectarian violence depicted in Trespasses help you understand the roots and impact of the Troubles? Where do you see similar patterns of religious, ethnic, or political division creating cycles of violence and mistrust in today’s world?

2. The novel shows how children like Davy and even Cushla’s young students are exposed to and shaped by the constant violence around them. What parallels do you see between their experiences and how children today are affected by ongoing conflicts, whether through media coverage or direct exposure to violence in their communities?

3. Kennedy portrays a society where crossing religious and class lines carries serious social and economic consequences. How do you see similar barriers operating in contemporary society? What does Cushla and Michael’s story suggest about the costs and possibilities of challenging those divisions?

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

1. What role does the gorse flower play throughout the novel? How does Michael’s gift of these “unlucky” flowers early in their relationship foreshadow the tragedy to come, and what deeper meaning do you find in Cushla’s return to the gully where he first picked them?

2. The recurring motif of news reports about bombings and murders appears throughout the story. In what ways does Kennedy use these brief, brutal headlines to create atmosphere and context? How do they affect the pacing and emotional weight of Cushla’s more intimate story?

3. Michael emerges as a character torn between his principles and his personal choices. How does Kennedy develop this contradiction through his work defending IRA suspects while maintaining an affair that could endanger him? What does his character reveal about the difficulty of living ethically in an unjust system?

4. Kennedy chose Trespasses as her title, which carries both religious and legal connotations. Which characters do you see as trespassing in the novel, and what different types of boundaries are being crossed? How does this concept of trespass connect to the broader themes of the story?

5. The novel’s structure moves between 1970s Belfast and 2015, with most of the story told in flashback. How does this temporal framework affect your understanding of Cushla’s character development? What does the contrast between young Cushla and the woman in the museum reveal about the lasting impact of the Troubles?

6. Supporting characters like Eamonn, Gina, and Tommy McGeown each represent different responses to the pressures of their divided society. How do their choices and fates illuminate different aspects of survival, resistance, and adaptation during the Troubles?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Picture yourself directing a film adaptation of Trespasses. Which scenes would you emphasize to capture the novel’s central tensions, and how would you handle the challenge of depicting both the intimate love story and the broader historical context of the Troubles?

2. The novel ends with Cushla and Davy’s reunion at the museum, but little is said about the decades between 1975 and 2015. What do you envision for Cushla’s life during those intervening years, and how do you think her experiences with Michael and the McGeowns shaped the choices she made afterward?

3. Tommy McGeown’s perspective on the events leading up to Michael’s murder remains largely unexplored in the novel. Choose a chapter and rewrite it from Tommy’s point of view. How might the story read differently if Kennedy had included chapters from Tommy’s point of view? What would you want to understand about his transformation from bullied schoolboy to convicted killer?