Girl A, Abigail Dean

For readers of Room and Sharp Objects, a propulsive and psychologically immersive novel about a young girl who escapes captivity--but not the secrets that shadow the rest of her life.

"'Girl A, ' she said. 'The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.'"

Lex Gracie doesn't want to think about her family. She doesn't want to think about growing up in her parents' House of Horrors. And she doesn't want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped, the eldest sister who freed her older brother and four younger siblings. It's been easy enough to avoid her parents--her father never made it out of the House of Horrors he created, and her mother spent the rest of her life behind bars. But when her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can't run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the House of Horrors into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her siblings - and with the childhood they shared.

What begins as a propulsive tale of escape and survival becomes a gripping psychological family story about the shifting alliances and betrayals of sibling relationships--about the secrets our siblings keep, from themselves and each other. Who have each of these siblings become? How do their memories defy or galvanize Lex's own? As Lex pins each sibling down to agree to her family's final act, she discovers how potent the spell of their shared family mythology is, and who among them remains in its thrall and who has truly broken free.

Discussion Questions: 

1. From the moment we meet Lex Gracie (Girl A) we know that whatever happens in the rest of the book, she got out of the House of Horrors. Why do you think the author, Abigail Dean, wants to make sure the readers know that right from the beginning?

2. The media and their fascination with all the children play a large role in the book. Why do you think people become so fascinated by survivors? What do you think about this fascination?

3. We meet each of the children and learn how they’ve been living and coping up to the present day. Who did you identify with the most? The least?

4. Girl A is known as “the one who escaped”. What does it say about Lex that she tried to run when the others didn’t? Does it say anything at all?

5. There are a lot of vivid scenes described in Girl A. Which scene from the book struck you the most?

6. While this book focuses a lot on the present day, we do learn a number of details about how the kids were treated in the house in Moors Hill Wood. Were parts hard for you to read? Were you able to stay somewhat detached from the horrors?

7. A number of people could have helped the kids who didn’t and then regretted it later. Why do you think it can be so hard to interfere in the moment? 

8. Who in the book do you believe deserves forgiveness and why? Who doesn’t?

9. Lex starts the book by being completely against her mother for what she did to them. Does anything that happens in the rest of the book change your initial impression of her mother?

10. The kids all had different therapists who handled their trauma differently. Do you agree with Dr. K’s methods when it comes to Evie?

11. What scene when it was being described struck you the most? What about it got to you?

12. Did you see the twist ending with Evie coming? What was your reaction when you learned the real ending?

13. Do you think this is a book that would make a good movie or series adaptation? Why?

14. This is Abigail Dean’s first novel. Would you want to read more books by her in the future?

15. In the end, how did this book leave you feeling? Will you remember it for a few months? A few years? Why?