We’re holding our fourth winter book club with an online meetup on March 9. Sign up on Team Snap to join us.

We’ll discuss The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave.

Discussion questions

• Why do you think Owen hid his past from Hannah and Bailey?
• Owen could have left a message for Hannah. Why do you think he chose “Protect her?”
• We find out that Hannah’s mother left her when she was a child. How does her relationship with her mother compare to Bailey’s?
• Did you have any suspicions about why Owen disappeared? Were you surprised by the reveal?
• Owen left some clues about his past. Do you think that he wanted Hannah and Bailey to investigate and uncover why he had to disappear?
• What did you think of Hannah and Bailey’s relationship? Was it an authentic depiction of a step-mom and step-daughter relationship?
• Considering Owen and his disappearance are both a huge part of this book, did you feel satisfied only getting glimpses of what he was like through flashbacks?
• Do you believe it was fair of Owen to leave Hannah to care for his daughter by herself without ever discussing this with her?
• Do you think Hannah made the right decision when she chose for her and Bailey not to go into witness protection with Owen?
• Do you think there will ever be an opportunity for Owen to reunite with Hannah and Bailey?

Summary

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they’re also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.

With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a riveting mystery, certain to shock you with its final, heartbreaking turn.