Awake

Jen Hatmaker begins Awake with the moment she knew her marriage was over. Why do you think she chose to open this way? What feelings did that choice bring up for you?

In the second chapter, “Dead Rose,” Jen takes us back to her freshmen year of high school. How does the content here reverberate throughout the rest of the book—including the cover? If you grew up immersed in a similar religious environment, does Jen’s experience resonate with you?

On page 28, Jen lists some potential “hidden corners” of a person’s life. Can you think of any other possible “hidden corners”? Have you or someone you loved ever confronted any “hidden corners”? What was that experience like?

Think back to the snapshots of her childhood and young adulthood that Jen features in Awake, from the county fair anecdote to her time at Falls Creek. Are there any motifs to the stories she incorporates? What do they tell us about Jen’s life and worldview?

Do you think Awake has any villains? If so, who? And if not, what might that say about how Jen has told the story? Is there anyone you wanted more of on the page?

Awake features many loving acts of Jen’s sprawling community. From booking Jen her first energetic body healing session to building her a porch swing bed, what is your favorite gesture? If you were in Jen’s position, how would you want your support system to show up for you?

The vignettes in Awake are relatively short, and Jen sprinkles poems and lyrics throughout. How did you feel about this departure from a more standard prose memoir? What is your favorite extract?

The structure of this memoir is not at all conventional. Why do you think Jen chose to order the sections “The End,” The Middle,” “The Beginning”? If you had to choose just one epiphany from each section, what would it be?

In the chapter “Jenna,” Jen writes how her father got in trouble for having a woman teach Sunday school, which is forbidden according to Southern Baptist theology. Hearing this, “a key quietly turns a lock on an internal door and it cracks open” (103). Can you identify other similar moments in Awake that allowed Jen to access a new part of herself? What are some moments like this in your own life?

What adjectives would you use to describe Jen? In what ways does she grow and change by the book’s end?

What were your favorite lines or scenes from the memoir? Did any make you laugh? What about cry?

What will you take away from Awake?