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Bookworms among us, this one’s for you. PureWow is launching a book club, and you’re invited to read along. Starting this October, we’ll be selecting one great read per season, complete with discussion questions and tips on how to host your own IRL gathering. (And stay tuned for in-person events with the authors themselves!)
We’re kicking things off with a psychological thriller we can’t stop talking about, Helpless, by New York Times bestselling author Jessica Knoll.
Helpless follows Faye Heron, a successful Hollywood screenwriter whose big break came writing and directing an episode of a TV show that closely mirrored her past. When her college professor—the man who launched her career—dies unexpectedly, Faye finds herself back on campus paying respects. She is also thrown into the path of her ex-boyfriend, Henry, with whom she shared a dark, electric and primally unique connection. After she wakes up at his family’s cabin, having been drugged and abducted, Faye must unravel what she thinks happened in their shared past if she’s going to survive the future, all while trying to resist their burning connection. Throughout a handful of steamy and dangerous days together, , Faye and Henry explore the opposing ideas of femininity and feminism, and the ways in which power dynamics may keep us helpless, no matter how much agency we think we have.
We have so many questions for Knoll about this unputdownable book, which PureWow’s Editor-in-Chief Jillian Quint will get into when she chats with the author in New York City on October 14th. But we also want you to get in on the fun, no matter when you read or where you’re located. Below are discussion questions and a guide to hosting your own Helpless-themed book club (rope and steak knife not included). Happy reading!
1. Helpless is both extremely sexy and extremely unsettling. How do you think the author wanted us to feel when reading it and what did she do to upend expectation?
2. There are times in the book when it’s unclear if Faye wants to stay captive or is using past kinks as a way to get inside Henry’s head. Do you think playing along was a calculated move?
3. One of the consistent themes in Helpless is the power dynamics Faye navigates in her relationships. With Henry, she is a scholarship kid offered access to a different way of life. With her husband, she is half of a Hollywood couple riding the prestige of his powerful brother. Faye is successful, but it seems her success is always dependent on someone else. Do you think she has agency, or is she truly helpless?
4. To that end, can a woman “get off on being helpless,” as Faye’s husband puts it, and still consider herself a feminist?
5. If you, unlike Faye, were allowed to pack a bag for your captivity, what are 5 things that would be in it?
