The Therapist

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

This recommended reading and discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Macmillan Audio.

Book club questions for The Therapist by B. A. Paris

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

How did the story work for you on audio? Did it add to the experience of the book? What did you think of Olivia Dowd and Thomas Judd's narrations? Did they "fit" the characters' personas?

The Therapist’s prologue closes with a Henry David Thoreau quote: “Happiness is like a buttery; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.” How does this quote relate to the rest of the story?

The Circle itself plays a large role in The Therapist: a gated, tight-knit community of twelve families could, at times, be a difficult place to live. Would you consider living in an estate like The Circle? Was conflict of some kind—if not necessarily to this extent—almost inevitable?

Was there anything surprising about the audiobook edition? Decisions Olivia and Thomas made or voices that stood out?

Alice offers multiple reasons for not revealing to friends that Thomas Grainger was the one to tell her about the murder—seemingly harmless white lies that eventually build to a nearly deadly resolution. Do you buy in to her reasoning? Putting yourself in her shoes, what would you do differently?

What did you think about hearing the story told from two different narrators? How did the voices of each actor establish the two different perspectives? How did they help bring the distinct characters to life?

The “Past” interstitials play out almost on repeat—until the last two when things abruptly take a turn. What effect do you think the author was trying to create with this technique?

In one of the final reveals, we learn the truth behind Alice’s sister’s death. How did it change your understanding of Alice’s motivations and reactions?

The words that end the audiobook are, “The truth, and nothing but the truth.” How does this sum up the events that occurred and the choices characters made in The Therapist?

The Therapist Book Club Questions PDF

Click here for a printable PDF of the The Therapist discussion questions

One of "The Most Anticipated Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021" —Goodreads

One of the "Best Beach Reads of Summer 2021"—SheReads