Synopses & Reviews
Darien is a young woman who seems to have everything: a successful job, an adoring husband, and a bright future. She also has a tendency towards violent, self-destructive outbursts when she's alone. When her private life spirals out of control, her husband and her therapist desperately try to help her uncover her horrible secrets before she destroys herself. Unfortunately, she just as desperately tries to keep them hidden.
About the Author
KRISTIN WATERFIELD DUISBERG is a graduate of Bowdoin College and the Creative Writing program at Boston University. This is her first book.
Reading Group Guide
1. The title of the novel is
The Good Patient. IS Darien a good patient? In what way?
2. Some therapists believe that transference, or the process by which a patient begins to identify with a therapist (or even want to become him or her), is essential to successful treatment. Does Darien experience transference in her relationship with Dr. Lindholm? What scenes suggest this?
3. Darien says early in the novel that pregnancy is “dangerous territory in the Gilbertson household”; she and Robert fight about her unwillingness to have a baby, and she reacts with disdain and alarm to several minor characters who are pregnant. What is it that Darien fears?
4. Early on, Darien describes Robert as “her talisman, stroke of luck,” and yet later she blames him for enabling her emotional dependency. To what extent do you think Robert is at fault in the dynamics of the relationship? Is it possible for both of Dariens descriptions of Robert to be accurate?
5. At Mt. Lebanon Hospital, Darien says of her marriage to Robert, ““two strangers should never come to know one another so intimately.” What does Darien believe about love? Do you think shes right?
6. The electric fence at the Gilbertsons Eastman house makes two appearances in the novel. What is the particular significance of the fence to Darien?
7. Many readers have connected with Walter - the dog - as their favorite character, and Dariens mother as their least. How do you feel about these two characters? Is there any connection between them?
8. In recalling Daytons death, Darien mentions that her sister switched outfits, so that when her body is found shes wearing Dariens clothes. Readers have offered several theories about the meaning of this: for example, that it was really Darien who died; that Darien and Dayton had a “suicide pact” and Darien chickened out. What do you think?
9. Darien imagines a conversation with an adult Dayton. Darien is surprised by the physical differences between herself and her twin, and she hastens to assure a bartender that the two are “the same.” What does this scene imply about Dariens understanding of “twinship”? Does it play a role in her progress toward healing?
10. When Darien visits Dr. Mintzer in Culver, her writes her a “prescription”: psychotherapy; forgive yourself; go back home & live your life. Is Dr. Mintzer being cruel and dismissive, or is this in fact the prescription Darien needs?
11. At the end of The Good Patient, much of Dariens past remains unexplored, and she acknowledges she will never know why her sister killed herself. Is this satisfying to you as a reader? Is it realistic?
12. If the book were to continue, what do you think would happen to Darien and Robert? Is there a deeper meaning to Dariens statement in the final paragraph, “I reach out for my husband”?