Girls Like Us

When Girls Like Us opens, Nell is returning home for her father's funeral. Nell and Marty always had a complicated relationship, but how do you think the distance between them influenced Nell's perspective on the case she gets pulled into? What was the catalyst for their issues?

Girls Like Us is set in the Hamptons but shows a side of Suffolk County rarely seen in the media: the working class. How does Suffolk County in the off-season differ from your expectations of the area? In what ways are the differences in race and class between the locals and the wealthy summer visitors shown? How does Nell straddle both communities?

This novel has some clear parallels to recent events in the news. How does the novel incorporate current issues of sex trafficking and police corruption?

Loyalty - whether it be family loyalty, hometown loyalty, or loyalty to the truth - is a big theme in this novel. Who do you think Nell is loyal to? What about Marty, Lee, and the others?

In what ways can Nell identify with the victims in the case she's investigating? How does her connection to Luz and to the other young women impact her participation in the case?

Dorsey and DaSilva were father figures for Nell growing up, sometimes even more than her own father. How do you think Nell feels when she discovers their involvement in James Meachem's circle? Do you think she'll ever be able to reconcile the men she thought she knew with who they ended up being?

There's a late-in-the-game revelation that leads Nell to Adriana's killer. Did you suspect anything earlier on in the novel? Who did you initially think was responsible for the murders, and why?

Although we never find out who killed Nell's mother, Nell herself feels closure by the end of the novel. Do you have any suspicions of who it might have been? Do you agree with Nell's decision to move on from the case?

What do you imagine happens next for Nell in Miami? Do you think she'll settle in and build a life with her half sister, Maria? Why or why not?