WellRead's August 2024 selection was The Echoes by Evie Wyld. It’s a story of life, death, grief, secrets and tangled webs of family failings. Set between London and rural Australia, Wyld captures the feeling of being pulled by two homelands, never really feeling at ease in either of them.

Use these discussion questions to engage with the book further, whether ina book club with friends, or just on your own as you digest the story. 

Reading questions for The Echoes by Evie Wyld: 

• “I do not believe in ghosts, which, since my death, has become something of a problem.” These are the opening words of the novel, spoken by Max, setting a lighter tone for the chapters from his perspective. Whilst The Echoes is not a funny novel, there are humorous moments – how did you find this balance throughout the story?

• During a tension-filled London Christmas, Hannah says: “I think sometimes silence is better than the wrong person speaking.” Many chapters later (although, in the past) Uncle Tony says: “I’m the wrong one to be talking, but what’s worse, the wrong person talking or no one talking?”. How do you navigate your own ideas of who can tell which stories?

• Hannah is quite a distant character. Despite much of the story being from her perspective, she is quite difficult to get a grasp on. How do you feel about the ways she reacts to the revelation of different events in her own story?

• Hannah has put distance between herself and her family, but finds comfort in her friendship with Janey and her chaotic ways, being seemingly the most honest with her, even over Max. Why do you think this is?

• Wyld is a master of flicking between timelines to unravel a story. How did you find switching between perspectives and timelines? Were there times when it worked better than others? And how did this way of telling the story work to change the way you felt about each character?

 Please note, these questions were written and distributed in August, 2024.