The Narrows
Amid the lakes, forests, and long winters of northern Wisconsin, Calhoun Dunn lives a small life by choice.
In his hometown of Winter Lake, population 800, Cal keeps his days deliberately simple: early mornings, steady work, familiar faces, and long stretches of quiet in the woods and on the water. It is a life carefully built to keep the past at a manageable distance.
Five years earlier, a family tragedy upended everything Cal thought he knew about himself. Since then, he has lived with the conviction that some mistakes cannot be undone and some people are not worthy of repair. But life in a small town has a way of refusing to let him keep his distance. Neighbors need help. Old friends—steady, funny, and loyal to the bone—refuse to let him disappear. And the Northwoods—through long winters and miraculous thaws—offer daily lessons in endurance, patience, and renewal.
As Cal moves through his days—fixing what he can and learning to trust himself again—unsettling truths from the past begin to surface, challenging what he believes about forgiveness, love, and what it means to make things right.
Tender, quietly humorous, and deeply humane, The Narrows is a novel about the unexpected ways people find their way back to one another—and how redemption often begins with the simple decision to hold on for another season.
Discussion questions provided by the publisher, DartFrog Books.
Book club questions for The Narrows by Don Smithmier
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
What stayed with you after you finished the book? A scene, character, feeling or idea is fair game.
How did your feelings about Cal change as the story unfolded?
Which relationship felt most important to the story—and why?
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Create My ClubHow much did the Northwoods setting shape the way you experienced the novel?
Cal has built a deliberately small life. Is he protecting himself, punishing himself, or doing some of both?
How much of Cal’s suffering comes from what happened, and how much comes from the meaning he has attached to what happened?
The novel lets a devastating event look different depending on who is remembering it. Which perspective challenged your assumptions most?
What does the book suggest about the difference between forgiveness and absolution?
Can someone make amends for something that cannot truly be repaired? What does “making things right” mean in this story?
Cal is fortunate to have men in his life who serve not just as friends, but also advisors, truth-tellers and anchors. Why do you think those relationships matter so much, and do you think most men have those kinds of relationships in their lives?
There’s been a lot written in the news recently about male isolation and loneliness. What does the novel suggest about how men give—and receive—support from one another, especially when they’re struggling?
Cal has a more open and honest relationship with Svenny--whom he’s known fewer than 5 years – then he does with his lifelong friends. Is this consistent with your experience or observations of male friendships? Why?
Do men and women expect different things from friendship? Did the relationships in the novel reinforce or challenge those expectations?
Cal spends much of his life fixing tangible things. Did you read that literally, symbolically, or both?
What role do friendship and ordinary acts of loyalty play in Cal’s survival?
The book is emotionally serious but often quietly funny. Where did humor make the story more human—or more painful?
How do winter, thaw, water and the rhythms of the Northwoods mirror the emotional movement of the book?
What does “The Narrows” mean to you beyond a place on the water? Think about the tight passages the characters must navigate.
The novel contrasts open water with the skill required to steer through narrow passages. Where do you see that metaphor operating most powerfully?
Is this ultimately a story about grief, family, friendship, forgiveness, redemption—or something else?
Does the novel suggest that second chances are earned, given by other people, or granted to ourselves?
Which character changes the most? Which character understands the most?
Did the ending feel earned to you? What, if anything, would you have wanted to know after the final page?
If you could ask Cal one question after the final chapter, what would it be?
The Narrows Book Club Questions PDF
Download a printable PDF of these discussion questions to bring to your meeting.