Women Are The Fiercest Creatures

In this wildly addictive novel, three overlooked women take on the charming, manipulative tech CEO who wrote them out of his startup’s history.

Anna Sarnoff is still reeling from her quickie divorce from tech wunderkind Jake Sarnoff. Forced out of the company that she helped Jake build, Anna is trying to pick up the pieces of her life, navigating the waters of solo parenting their two teenage boys and adapting to her new role of ex-wife. To make things more complicated, Jake seems to want her back…and his persuasiveness tempts her to say yes.

Across town, the brilliant and striking Samanta Flores-Walsh, Jake’s college girlfriend, is busy raising her teenage daughter and running her thriving yoga studio. Although their relationship ended years ago, unanswered questions from their time together gnaw at her, and when she learns that Jake is planning to take his billion-dollar company public, she starts to wonder if perhaps it isn’t too late for justice.

Finally, there’s Jake’s much younger new wife, Jessica, who’s struggling to stay afloat as a new mom while her high-profile husband grows increasingly distant.

Set in the wealthy enclaves of Seattle’s tech elite, the lives of these three women grow entangled as long-held secrets are forced to the surface, threatening to destroy their families. Written with razor-sharp intelligence and heart, Women Are the Fiercest Creatures is a searing look at the complexities of family and the obstacles women navigate in every aspect of their existence.

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These book club discussion questions were provided by Zibby Books.

Book club questions for Women Are The Fiercest Creatures by Andrea Dunlop

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

Women are the fiercest creatures, but the three main female characters in this novel are extremely different. How do Anna, Sam, and Jessica exhibit fierceness? How does their representation of fierceness differ from each other?

On page 23, Sam “recognized the idealistic version of Jake, which still shone through in places. But most of it seemed like a performance now.” And on page 37, Dunlop writes about Anna, "Her first lesson in love was not lost on her: no matter how glittering the golden boy seems, he can always up and leave you stranded." How are Sam and Anna's perspectives on love (and Jake) similar? How are they different?

On page 67, the reader learns about Artemis, the women-only business accelerator that Anna hopes to start with her friend. At one point, Dunlop writes, "For years, Jake had gotten her best ideas first. With Artemis, she didn't want to make the same mistake." What do you think this scene says about Anna and Jake's relationship and how Anna has changed since the divorce? Does she make the same mistakes throughout the book, or does she learn to take control of her ideas?

As Sam thinks about Strangers, she realizes a piece of her had always lived inside the program. "Reporters always mentioned the unknowable magic of the site's original algorithm. There was Sam, buried inside of the very thing that made Strangers special, a major part of the reason it had succeeded when 95 percent of its competitors had failed" (pg. 75). What makes this moment so frustrating, for Sam and for the reader? Have you ever experienced someone taking credit for something you created? How do you think Sam's former relationship with Jake amplified these feelings?

At one point, we learn from Anna that "whereas Jake experienced only fleeting moments of self-doubt, she experienced only fleeting moments of self-confidence. Her faith in her idea and capabilities was like a silvery fish that shimmered just out of her reach. Each time she tried to grasp it, to hold on, it slipped from her hand" (pg. 96) How did Anna’s childhood set her up for “fleeting moments of self-confidence”? How does Jake contribute to her self-esteem? Do you see Anna change throughout the book?

In the prenatal class where Sam first meets Jessica Sarnoff in person, Sam says, "There's even a theory of civilization that the reason men oppressed women to begin with, the reason they used their advantage of physical strength to subjugate us, was because they feared us" (pg. 114), and later she tells the room, "Women are the fiercest creatures" (pg. 114). How do you think these statements impacted Jessica? What is it about Sam that makes her stand out from Anna, Jessica, and the other Portside moms?

Anna discovers Dylan's finsta account shortly after Jake takes the boys to Whistler and Dylan refuses to return to Jake and Jessica's place (pg. 144). Several months later, at the end of the school year, Dylan is involved in the leaking of footage of Jessica in the nude that he pulled from Jake and Jessica's security cameras (pg. 211). Why do you think Dylan was involved in these two incidents? Was there anything Jake (or Anna) could have done to prevent them? How do you think they impacted Jessica?

Eventually, Anna reveals that she deleted Samanta’s emails to Jake regarding Lola (beginning on page 191). If you were in Anna's place, would you have done the same thing? Why or why not? How does this action complicate a story of women’s empowerment?

Throughout the book, Samanta works with Sienna Markowitz to announce not only her role in the development of Strangers, but Lola's parentage. When Jake finally approaches her near the end of the book, Sam briefly considers asking Sienna to call off the article, but ultimately remembers that she is telling the truth for Lola. What are the benefits and disadvantages to making this information public? Did your perspective change once Sam and Jake started talking again? Do you think Sam’s choice to move forward with the exposé was the right thing to do?

Both Sam and Anna mention being free from Jake—Sam on page 136 ("She had done everything she could not to form her life around Jake, and in doing so, she had somehow let his absence define it. Would she ever be free?"), and Anna on page 176 ("But whether he'd been serious about any of his recent overtures or not, Anna did not want him back. She wanted whatever was coming next for her to come. She wanted to be free."). What was it about Jake that made both women feel trapped? What do you think freedom meant to each of them, and what choices did they make throughout the book to feel free?

Women are the Fiercest Creatures begins with a glimpse at Charlotte's disappearance, but it isn't until the end of the book that the reader returns to this moment and discovers who kidnapped Charlotte (pg. 259). Was Ben’s choice a surprise to you? Looking back at the rest of the book, are there any indications that this is how Ben would react, or, like Anna when she emailed Samanta as Jake, did Ben just finally hit his limit with Jake's behavior? Why do you think Ben felt this was the best way to reach Jake?

At the end of Sienna Markowitz's original article, Jake Sarnoff says, "Who I am to my family will be my most important legacy" (pg. 6).What do you think he meant when he said this? What will his legacy look like to Anna, and how will that differ from the legacy he leaves with Jessica or Sam? How could he improve his legacy to his children?

Anna reflects a lot on the birth of her first child throughout the book, but as readers, we do not meet Kayla Abrams until the Epilogue (pg. 263). Kayla seems optimistic about meeting her mother and brothers (and almost sisters). Do you think the Sarnoff and Flores-Walsh families will welcome Kayla the way she hopes they will? How do you think Kayla reaching out to Anna will impact Anna and her boys? Did this ending give you closure?

In Sienna Markowitz's third (and final) article, it is revealed that the exposé about Sam and Lola "led to onetime tech darling Jake Sarnoff being ousted from his company Strangers following an epic social media rant that dissolved into him insulting and berating the legions of commenters that questioned his behavior" (pg. 265). Did you anticipate this ending for Jake? Did it feel just to you? What kind of feelings would this conclusion ring up for Anna, Sam, and Jessica?

Which scenes did you connect with in particular? Were there any scenes, or choices by characters, you disagreed with?

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