The Truth About Ruby Cooper Reading Group Guide

As a teenager Ruby is envious of her sister, Erin. Can you understand what’s behind it? And how might their parents have managed Ruby’s envy, if they noticed it?

To what extent does the family’s conservative background shape Ruby’s personality and play a role in what unfolds?

Ruby is young when she makes a decision that will change many people’s lives forever. Does her sexual encounter in Bible Camp shortly before the incident let her off the hook? How responsible should a sixteen-year-old be held for their actions?

If you were Ruby’s mother, what would you have done when Ruby revealed the true story of the incident?

Before the incident, what did you think of Ruby’s parents' marriage? And afterwards? Could they have navigated the fallout from the incident differently?

Erin’s life is upended by the incident. Do you understand how she reacts, both immediately afterwards and in the life choices she makes subsequently?

To what extent do Ruby’s actions in later life – in recovery, in her marriage and as a mother – throw a fresh light on the events in Boston? Is her behaviour as an adult caused by the fallout from the incident, or do her later actions suggest something fundamental about her mental wiring that’s been there from the start?

What are your thoughts on the book’s ending? How do you see the key characters’ lives unfolding after the events of the book?