Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Lucky Night by Eliza Kennedy

1. Why is Jenny faking it an issue? Why does Nick obsess over it? And do you believe her when she tells him the "truth?"
2. What is the state of their relationship at the start of the novel? How do they each present themselves to the other in a way that's different from who they "really" are?
3. Why doesn't Jenny listen to her gut about leaving? Why does she feel so conflicted?
4. What does the fire alarm actually trigger between the couple?
5. How well do Nick and Jenny really know each other at the beginning of the novel? What about at the end? Do you agree with Nick that there's a sense in which none of us really knows anyone else?
6. What did you think of the style of writing? How does the lack of quotation marks and the use of present tense shape the story?
7. Early into their six-year relationship, Jenny realized she was in love with Nick. Then she managed to talk herself out of it. Or so she believes. Do you think she's right? What did "her great love" give her? What do you think would have happened if she'd told Nick earlier?
8. What does the book say about two people being stuck together in the same place—instead of choosing to be in the same place?
9. How is each of them able to justify the affair? Were you sympathetic to any of the reasons that brought them together?
10. How does their encounter with the Finnish hotel guest shift the tone of the book—and Nick and Jenny's attitude toward each other?
11. Jenny feels guilty about the affair in part because it's time she takes away from being with her children. "You chose this fire over them." Is that a fair statement?
12. What does the novel say about honesty? Do you agree with Nick that the real problem of infidelity is deception, or is it something more?
13. How does a dramatic and scary situation, like a fire, shape our actions or distort our reality? Are Nick and Jenny being themselves—essentially honest, as the fire approaches—or are they acting out differently because of the extreme circumstances they find themselves in?
14. What do you think happens next in Nick and Jenny's story?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Crown. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.