The Last Thing He Told Me is a quick, engaging read that asks a provocative question: How do we really know who people are?
Table of Contents
Book Club Discussion Questions
Background Information for The Last Thing He Told Me
Book Club Discussion Questions
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Warming Up
- Have you ever found out someone isn’t who you thought they were? How did you figure it out? How did it affect your relationship?
- How do you make sure you really know someone?
Digging Deeper
- When did you figure out who Owen is? Did you get it before the book revealed it? How did you know?
- What did you enjoy about this book?
- Do you think Bailey and Hannah react realistically to Owen’s disappearance?
- Do you believe Hannah’s reason for not to going into the Witness Protection Program? Do you think she really does it for Bailey?
Wrapping Up
- Is it possible to live with someone and not know who they really are?
- What makes someone who they really are?
- Which characters have the central relationship in this story?
Who is Laura Dave?
Laura Dave has written several bestselling novels, but this is her first thriller. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, screenwriter Josh Singer. He is helping with the screenplay for the adaptation of The Last Thing He Told Me, which is being produced for Apple TV+.
Background Information for The Last Thing He Told Me
Sausalito, California
The Last Thing He Told Me doesn’t go into a lot of detail about the family’s floating home, but rest assured that the community is real. The plot mentions in passing that it’s a good place for Owen to buy since there’s less of a paper trail. This article proves shows that this community is a perfect one in more than one way: it started as a bohemian community. In other words, the perfect type of place to hide.
You can check out some of the more famous houseboats online here. If you are in the San Francisco area, a guide to a walking tour is here. The real-life community is much more picturesque than the cover of the book implies.
Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas is a “go to” destination when one needs a cool college town, and that’s exactly why Dave chose it as a setting for the book.
The Witness Protection Program
I wondered how much Laura Dave really knows about the Witness Protection Program. I wasn’t able to find that answer, but I did find this 2021 article about the Witness Protection Program from Mental Floss, which gives you some idea of what it’s like.
And then there’s this fun fact: 95% of the people who go into protection are criminals themselves!
If you were wondering, Daves did originally get the idea for the downfall of “The Shop” from the Enron scandal in the early 2000’s…then she sat on that idea for years!
What do you think?
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