It was like trying to imagine a world where the sun went around the moon, or where there was no such thing as air.Ĭeleste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You starts like a thriller: “Lydia is dead. Lydia could not imagine another future, another life. She wanted this so much, Lydia knew, that she no longer needed to say it. There’s so much that the characters keep to themselves.All her life she had heard her mother’s heart drumming one beat: doctor, doctor, doctor.

What other objects bring the characters closer together or drive them further apart?ġ2. The footprint on the ceiling brings Nath and Lydia closer when they are young, and later, Hannah and James discover it together and laugh. Do you think one is happier or more satisfied?ġ1. Discuss the relationship Marilyn and her mother have to cooking and their roles as stay-at-home mothers. Marilyn thought uneasily of her own life, of hours spent making breakfasts, serving dinners, packing lunches into neat paper bags.”ġ0. “It struck her then, as if someone had said it aloud: her mother was dead, and the only thing worth remembering about her, in the end, was that she cooked. Do you think the same issues will affect the next generation of Lees? How did your parents influence your childhood?ĩ. This novel says a great deal about the influence our parents can have on us. What would have happened if Lydia had reached the dock? Do you think she would have been able to change her parents’ views and expectations of her?Ĩ. What is the meaning of the novel’s title? To whom do the “I” and “you” refer?ħ.

How do the members of the Lee family deal with being measured against stereotypes and others’ perceptions?Ħ. Discuss a situation in which you’ve felt like an outsider.

How did you react to the “Marco Polo” pool scene with James and Nath? What do you think of James’s decision?ĥ. When Marilyn asked what happened, James said merely, with a wave of the hand, 'Some kids teased him at the pool yesterday. The other part of him wanted to shake his son, to slap him. “So part of him wanted to tell Nath that he knew: what it was like to be teased, what it was like to never fit in. Why do you think Lydia is the favorite child of James and Marilyn? How does this pressure affect Lydia, and what kind of impact do you think it has on Nath and Hannah? Do you think it is more difficult for Lydia to be the favorite, or for Nath and Hannah, who are often overlooked by their parents?ģ. How do the siblings both understand and mystify one another?Ģ. Discuss the relationships between Nath, Lydia, and Hannah.

I never told you book