The following questions are intended to enhance your group’s discussion of Between My Thighs.
1. Raquel Howard is, among other things, an educated woman, with numerous degrees under her belt, who struggles with the emotional scars left behind from men with whom she dealt. How does she become involved with a man like Troy? What is it that keeps Raquel from leaving Troy?
2. Discuss the author’s characterization of Raquel Howard. What kind of a person is Raquel? How do you feel about her at different points in the novel? Did you relate to the way she reacted to Troy’s infidelities? Why or why not?
3. In what ways do we see the subdued memories of Raquel and Troy at work throughout this novel, affecting the tone and contour of each of their relationships, decisions, and/or motivations?
4. Toward the end of the novel, certain elements of Troy’s character are exposed. Did you see these things coming? What kind of person is Troy? How did your feelings about Troy change at different points in the novel?
5. According to Dr. Kevin Frazier, a psychiatrist in the novel, girls who grow up from infancy without a father exhibit early sexual promiscuity and addictive sexual appetites. How do Raquel’s conflicting notions of addiction play out and evolve over the course of the novel? Is Raquel addicted to sex? Why or why not?
6. Recount the unpredictable series of plot twists, violent climaxes, and emotional endings that Naija delivers.
7. In each relationship, Raquel was very careful about controlling her feelings. What was it about Troy that caused her to lose this control?
8. “Your love is to die for,” Troy said. What would you say was his meaning of love? Did he really love Raquel? What suppressed memories from Troy’s childhood cause him to love the way he does?
9. How do the various real-life situations personally relate to experiences you’ve dealt with? How would you react to some of the obstacles Raquel faced?
10. Where do you see Raquel, Kevin, Jason, Chauncey, and Kapri five years after the close of the novel? Hypothetically, how would the story flow to the sequel of Between My Thighs?
11. With which character (s) in Between My Thighs do you most personally identify? Why?
12. Looking back, discuss the specific scenes, issues, characters, situations, or lines of dialogue that really left you feeling one of those “I’ve-been-there” or “I-know- this-person” moments.
13. “When love, lust, and lies collide, violence sparks and a triangle of secrets are revealed.” All of the characters have secrets, what are they?
14. How significant is the untimely death of Raquel’s brother on the influence of her character? Her family? How does this play into the culmination of her narrative?
15. What brings Raquel to the realization where she finally discovers her worth? |
