Our Book Of The Month for October was Mrs England by Stacey Halls. For our online Book Clubbers we have some questions below for you to get involved with. Either answer in the comments section or use as discussion points at your next Book Club. If you haven’t read the book check out our Lowdown all about it here.
Mrs England – the blurb
‘Something’s not right here.’
I was aware of Mr Booth’s eyes on me, and he seemed to hold his breath. ‘What do you mean?’
‘In the house. With the family.’
West Yorkshire, 1904. When newly graduated nurse Ruby May takes a position looking after the children of Charles and Lilian England, a wealthy couple from a powerful dynasty of mill owners, she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs. But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear there’s something not quite right about the beautiful, mysterious Mrs England.
Distant and withdrawn, Lilian shows little interest in her children or charming husband, and is far from the ‘angel of the house’ Ruby was expecting. As the warm, vivacious Charles welcomes Ruby into the family, a series of strange events forces her to question everything she thought she knew. Ostracised by the servants and feeling increasingly uneasy, Ruby must face her demons in order to prevent history from repeating itself. After all, there’s no such thing as the perfect family – and she should know.
Discussion Points
The following are written with the presumption you have read Mrs England. If you haven’t, bookmark the post and come back to answer the questions later.
- At what point did you suspect it might be Mr England and not Mrs England that Nurse May needed to watch out for?
- Do you think Stacey Halls went far enough in making Mrs England look insane? Or in making Mr England a villain?
- Why did Decca have Nurse May’s glove at the end of the book? Had she found it near Mr England’s body?
- At the end of the book Mrs England passed Nurse May a letter from her sister that is 3 days old. What is the meaning behind this? Had she hidden the letters after all?
- What did you think of Nurse May’s back story? Did it add to the book at all?
- What do you think Nurse May will do after her holiday? Will she take the position at Norland?
Get Involved
Feel free to answer as many of the questions as you want. Post your replies below, discuss with us on social media using @BookSocialUK, or pose some questions of your own. If you enjoyed the questions, have a go at last month’s Get Involved: Such A Fun Age.
