Sleepwalking in Daylight
by Elizabeth Flock
List Price: $21.95
Pages: 368
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780778325130
Publisher: Mira Books
Once defined by her career and independence, stay-at-home mom Samantha Friedman's days have been reduced to errands, carpools and suburban gossip. What was an easy decision for Sam years ago has become a nagging awareness that this life was her choice. Now she deals with a husband who shows up for dinner but is too preoccupied for conversation, and a daughter swathed in black clothing and Goth makeup who won’t talk at all.
Believing she’s an adopted mistake, seventeen-year-old Cammy has fallen into sex and drugs and pours herself into a journal filled with poetry and pain. On parallel paths, mother and daughter indulge in desperate, furtive escapism --- for Sam, a heady affair with her supposed soul mate, fueled by clandestine coffee dates and the desire to feel something; for Cammy, a secretive search for her birth mother punctuated by pills, pot and the need to feel absolutely nothing.
New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Flock’s novels have been hailed as “haunting” (Booklist) and “tremendously touching” (Kirkus Reviews). With Sleepwalking in Daylight, she perceptively reveals the inner workings of a modern marriage and the complicated mother-daughter relationship with unflinching honesty, delivering her most powerful, provocative story to date.
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1. Sleepwalking in Daylight opens with a very provocative look at sex and the modern marriage. On a scale of one to ten, where do you think sex ranks in terms of importance in a marriage?
2. Do you believe there is a greater amount of dissatisfaction in today’s relationships? What role do you think people’s expectations play in the success or failure of their relationships?
3. Statistics show that more and more women are marrying later in life. Do you think couples who marry after age 30 have a better chance of having a successful marriage than those who marry young, as Samantha and Bob did?
4. When do you think Samantha started to lose her connection with Cammy? If her relationship with Bob had been on better footing, do you think Samantha would have let her daughter withdraw as much?
5. Do parents ever really know their kids? We like to think so, but when it comes to independent teenagers, can we be sure? How confident are you that you would know whether or not your child has tried alcohol and/or drugs, and what would you do if they had?
6. It can be very easy for us to blame the parents for a child’s mistakes. At what point does a teenager “own” her actions and decisions? Discuss how much of the responsibility you feel falls on Cammy’s shoulders, not her parents’, for her choices and behavior.
7. Discuss the novel's structure. In what ways do the alternating narratives between mother and daughter enhance the story? How do the scenes in a teenager’s voice give you further insight into the characters and their actions?
8. When it comes to adultery, some people claim their partner’s lack of attention for “forced” them into the arms of another. Was this the case for Samantha? Do you buy that argument? Given the circumstances, do you blame her for getting close to Craig?
9. How do you feel about Bob’s actions (or inaction) throughout the story? Did you find him to be a sympathetic character? What role, if any, do you feel his supposed depression played in the novel?
10. How do you think the story might have changed if Sam had talked candidly with Craig’s wife at the soccer game? If you were in Sam’s shoes, would meeting his wife and child have been enough to prompt you to end the relationship?
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"Elizabeth Flock offers us a haunting look at the challenges and responsibilities of raising a small family in suburban America. This is a cautionary tale about the perils of narcissism and living in denial. Once you pick it up, you can’t not read it to the very last page. Sleepwalking in Daylight will be remembered for a very long time."
— New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank
"Have you ever opened your eyes and realized that you've been sleepwalking through your life? If so, this is the novel for you. Sleepwalking in Daylight is heartfelt and poignant, unique and memorable. Elizabeth Flock's characters feel real, her dialogue is first-rate. The story is rich and resonates long after the last page has been turned. This novel isn't about the perfection of life, but rather, how life's imperfections make it all the more precious."
— John Shors, bestselling author of Beneath a Marble Sky
