I Have Some Questions for You: A Novel
The riveting new novel — "part true-crime page-turner, part campus coming-of-age"— from the author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist The Great Believers. A stirring investigation into collective memory and a deeply felt examination of one woman’s reckoning with her past, with a transfixing mystery at its heart. I Have Some Questions for You is at once a compulsive page-turner and a literary triumph.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *I Have Some Questions for You* is a layered, thought-provoking novel blending a murder mystery with social commentary on race, class, can...
As a group our bookclub felt this book was a 3 of 5 stars. The book, whose description has already been given, was filled with themes, too many themes, we felt. We wanted to say to the author - pick one or two themes and stick with them. The group liked Part II of the book better than Part I but overall felt the book could have been more tightly edited. In addition there were incidents in the book that neither furthered the plot or added to character development. While the discussion was lively, we all agreed we would probably not recommend the book to others.
thenextgoodbook.com
What’s it about?
Bodie Kane is a successful podcaster and film professor who has decided to return to her former boarding school to teach a couple of two-week courses. The last time she was at The Granby School it was the 1990’s and she had been an awkward teen dealing with her own issues. Upon her return she finds herself immersed in old memories- not all of them good. One of her students decides her podcast project will be to investigate the murder of Bodie’s old roommate Thalia Keith. Bodie is immediately drawn back into that time. What does she really remember and was the wrong person convicted of this crime?
What did it make me think about?
This book had so many layers! I was struck the most by how the latest generation is depicted- and what that means for the future.
Should I read it?
This book was SO deep and layered and complicated. It reminded me in many ways of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. Unlike The Secret History this novel spends some of it’s time on the effects of social media on the next generation. I certainly walked away thinking how very different being a teenager is now with an audience watching and commenting on every move you make. I am so very glad I grew up without all this pressure! The mystery in this story serves as a conduit for a discussion on race, class, memory, and generational differences. This would make an excellent book club choice!
Quote-
“I thought of a friend in LA who’d said recently of her own daughter, “It feels wrong to give her all this happiness and confidence when we know what is coming. Seventh grade is going to hit like a wall. It feels like fattening a pig for slaughter.” But what was the alternative? Starving the pig?”
What’s it about?
Bodie Kane is a successful podcaster and film professor who has decided to return to her former boarding school to teach a couple of two-week courses. The last time she was at The Granby School it was the 1990’s and she had been an awkward teen dealing with her own issues. Upon her return she finds herself immersed in old memories- not all of them good. One of her students decides her podcast project will be to investigate the murder of Bodie’s old roommate Thalia Keith. Bodie is immediately drawn back into that time. What does she really remember and was the wrong person convicted of this crime?
What did it make me think about?
This book had so many layers! I was struck the most by how the latest generation is depicted- and what that means for the future.
Should I read it?
This book was SO deep and layered and complicated. It reminded me in many ways of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. Unlike The Secret History this novel spends some of it’s time on the effects of social media on the next generation. I certainly walked away thinking how very different being a teenager is now with an audience watching and commenting on every move you make. I am so very glad I grew up without all this pressure! The mystery in this story serves as a conduit for a discussion on race, class, memory, and generational differences. This would make an excellent book club choice!
Quote-
“I thought of a friend in LA who’d said recently of her own daughter, “It feels wrong to give her all this happiness and confidence when we know what is coming. Seventh grade is going to hit like a wall. It feels like fattening a pig for slaughter.” But what was the alternative? Starving the pig?”
A compelling read - a pseudo-thriller/whodunnit that attempts to simultaneously address a host of societal issues. Clunky at times (didn’t love the second person narration or the litany of public abuses) but overall readable and thought provoking.
This book brought back memories of boarding school. No murder happened while I was at school, but it brought up so many memories. The story is about a woman who returns to her Alma mater to teach a class and gets involved into investigating a murder. The murder happened while she attended the school. The story was ok. The ending was a bit flat. I enjoyed this book on a different level because of the boarding school setting. Overall...a good read.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.