Questions  for  Further  Reading  Things  We  Have  in  Common  

by  Tasha  Kavanagh  

Whether  you  are  reading  this  book  as  part  of  a  group  or  on  your  own,  we  hope  the  below  questions  enhance  your  reading  experience.    

Join  the  conversation  online  with  #ThingsWeHaveinCommon  

'If  you'd  glanced  just  once  across  the  field,  you'd  have  seen  me  standing  in  the  middle  on  my  own,  looking  straight  at  you,  and  you'd  have  gone  back  through  the  trees  to  the  path  quick,  tugging  your  dog  after  you.  You'd  have  known  you'd  given  yourself  away,  even  if  only  to  me.  But  you  didn't.  You  only  had  eyes  for  Alice.'    

1. This  novel  is  written  in  second  person.  How  did  the  direct  address  affect  your  reading?  Did  your  reaction  change  as  you  progressed  through  the  story?  

2. Yasmin  is  a  very  introspective  character,  often  imagining  scenarios  removed  from  her  daily  life.  How  does  this  trait  shape  her  as  a  narrator?  What  external  factors  contribute  to  her  fantasies?  

3. Why  do  you  think  Yasmin  fantasises  about  Alice's  disappearance?  What  emotional  need,  if  any,  does  this  fulfill  for  her?  

'I  knew  I'd  been  obsessing  about  you.  And  I  didn't  really  know  anything  about  you  anyway.  I'd  only  seen  you  once.  I  thought  about  how  you  could  just've  been  a  completely  normal  person  that  was  staring  at  Alice  for  some  innocent  reason…and  not  at  all  because  you  were  going  to  do  something  very  bad.'  

4. In  many  ways,  this  is  a  whodunit.  How  did  the  pacing  and  narration  affect  your  understanding  of  what  happened  to  Alice?  

5. Does  this  novel  challenge  our  understanding  of  guilt  and  innocence?  Who  is  the  perpetrator?  Who  is  the  victim?  

6. What  did  you  think  of  the  last  sentence?  

'I  got  a  weird  feeling,  then,  deep  inside  –  like  nothing  anywhere  in  the  whole  universe  mattered  except  you  and  me  –  like  we  belonged,  in  some  preordained,  destined  way,  to  each  other.  Like  fate.'  

7. Several  different  communities  are  represented  in  this  novel.  What  are  they?  How  do  normative  societal  structures  let  Yasmin  down?    

8. How  does  Yasmin's  life  at  school  impact  on  her  life  at  home,  and  vice  versa?  

9. To  what  extent  is  this  novel  a  search  for  belonging?  10. What  roles  does  Mr.  Caldwell  fill  in  Yasmin's  life?  What  roles  does  she  fill  

in  his?  11. What  does  the  China  dog  represent?  12. Would  you  befriend  Yasmin?  

 

 

'That  moment  she  was  mine,  mine,  fair,  /  Perfectly  pure  and  good:  I  found  /  A  thing  to  do,  and  all  her  hair  /  In  one  long  yellow  string  I  wound  /  Three  times  her  little  throat  around,  /  And  strangled  her'  

13. This  poem,  'Porphyria's  Lover'  by  Robert  Browning,  is  quoted  early  on  by  Yasmin.  What  is  its  significance?  

14. Do  you  think  Yasmin  is  an  obsessive  character?  Why  or  why  not?