Chapter one

• “She is a writer of romantic fiction. She tells lies to herself, and to the
world.” Do you agree with this view of romantic fiction?
• From the opening to the novel, what do you think will happen?
Chapter two
• In what way is Mary Fisher “the erotic” and Ruth, the narrator, “the
maternal”? How is her “ugliness” described?
• What are her views about self-deception? When self-deception
doesn’t work for the betrayed women of Eden Grove, what happens?
Chapter five
• What do you think of the “Litany of the Good Wife”?
• What do you think Ruth will do now she is aware of her self-
deception?
Chapter seven
• I want revenge.
• I want power.
• I want money.
• I want to be loved and not love in return.

How do you think Ruth will achieve this by becoming the “she devil”?
How do you think the following will form part
of Ruth’s revenge?
• She gets a job at the retirement home which houses Mary’s mother.
• She takes classes in accounting.
• She starts her own employment agency for female secretaries.
• She works as a nanny for the children of a judge.
• She seduces and corrupts a priest.
To find out you will have to read the book (or
watch the 1986 TV series)!