Were there any discrepancies and if so, did they make you question the portrayal of other events that had taken place in the family’s past?

Who did you trust in the novel and why?

The police verdict on the drowning of Ruby-May was ‘accidental death’. Did you believe this?

The characters all grieve in different ways for Ruby-May. In what ways did they show how they felt? Do you think it’s ever possible to get over the death of a child?

How did you think the children, Lotte and Theo, have learned to cope with the loss of their sister, Ruby-May?

There are three absent characters in One Year Later – Eleanor Flowers, the mother, Ruby-May, the dead child, and Maddison, Nick Flowers’ ex-girlfriend. How did these characters, who never appear in the current story, shape the novel?

There are two characters who are not part of the Flowers family: Luca Castaglioni and Joe Hart. How did these young men fit into the story?

Sanjida Kay’s psychological thrillers feature mothers and daughters. What did you think of the mothers – Eleanor and Amy – in this novel? How are society’s expectations of motherhood reflected in these two women’s parenting styles?

The settings in One Year Later are the family’s childhood home in Somerset, Bristol, and a tiny, remote island off the coast of Tuscany in Italy. How did these locations reflect what was happening to the family?

The events that unfold are based on long-held secrets and grievances. Is it ever acceptable to act the way the characters did, given their past histories?

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is mentioned throughout the novel. How is this Italian poem used to comment upon the events in One Year Later?

The novel is ultimately about the emotional damage that families inflict on their children, which is passed on from generation to generation. Do the Flowers family eventually escape this cycle? Is it ever possible to break free from the harm caused by a dysfunctional and emotionally abusive childhood?