WellRead’s January 2021 selection was The Push by Ashley Audrain, a psychological drama that combines page-turning tension with first-class writing to tell the story of the making and breaking of a family and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for.
Use these discussion questions to engage with the book further, whether in a book club with friends, or just on your own as you digest the story.
Reading questions for The Push by Ashley Audrain:
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First things first, did you read in one sitting or were you able to exert control?
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The book asks if being a “good mother” always requires selflessness and unconditional love and how much of themselves mothers owe their children. Discuss!
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Blythe writes that both she and her mother “had only one version of the truth” when it comes to what they can remember about their own upbringings—there isn’t anyone left who can tell them a different side of the story. Do you think we subconsciously reframe what we remember about our past? Did you believe everything Blythe remembered about her childhood?
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Audrain lets no one in the Connor family off the hook, yet every character managed to elicit our sympathy to varying degrees. Was this your experience too?
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Do you think Fox ever lied about not believing Blythe in order to protect Violet? If so, do you think trying to protect his daughter was a good enough reason to doubt his wife?
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Like the book We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Push explores ideas of nature versus nurture. Are we born, or are we made? And, especially, when children turn out to be violent or dangerous, how much blame lies with the way they were raised? It’s a big topic...discuss!
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Let’s talk about that ending!
Please note, these questions were written and distributed in January, 2021.