Book Club for Introverts discussion

Here's the place to talk about chapters 18-23. Please don't spoil it for others; if you want to talk about something in a later chapter, I'll be posting topics for the other chapters as well.

There is more character development and background in these chapters.

I feel sorry for Tony. He seems lost; he's sad about his dog that recently died. He seems sadder about that then his divorce, the fact that he rarely sees his kids and grandkids. But he seems like a very nice man. I think it's funny that Frances' nickname for him is Serial Killer and his for her is Loony Woman.

Tony kindly helps Frances with her nose bleed and she sees his smiley face tattoos on his butt. She is rethinking her assessment of him.

Masha is spying on her guests in order to understand their needs/issues. I wonder what's up with her ex-husband? Why is he contacting her? Why is she not reading his messages?


Carmel is sad and self-conscious. She has lost her sense of self due to 4 children and a shitty husband who left her because he "was no longer attracted to her". She wants to look better for him (revenge).

Yao feels Masha saved his life and has a crush on her. Interesting that Frances' assessment was right about him and Delilah, but it appears to be just sex.

I think it's funny that after only 4 days Frances is so much better; her papercut is gone, her cold is cured and her back feels better. Not likely.

I think Masha shared more than she intended with Frances during their session.

Frances is still funny. I'm still loving this book!

Tony and the smiley face tattoos! “A secret clown suit beneath his clothes.” 😂

He does seem lost and I’m glad he may not be a serial killer after all.

Ugh, I still don’t like Tony. Even with the tattoos. I think maybe he was a professional footballer or something?

I’m getting strange feelings in these chapters about Masha. At one pint Frances refers to her omnipresence, Yao refers to the healing as a sort of religion.
At one point Frances mentions emailing Ellen to thank her for the recommendation, which rubbed me the wrong way, as in will she be able to tell Ellen? Then not a few paragraphs later Masha tells Frances “you could murder someone with that letter opener.” This also struck me as very odd and some possible foreshadowing. I think something terrible is going to happen here.

I’m enjoying learning more about the different players in this story. Tony makes me uncomfortable. I think he’s suffering internally, but I find it hard to feel compassion for him. I don’t think that Masha is a good person. She’s spying on her guests and is much too controlling. She has a dark side.

I keep waiting to see "uncomfortable" moments that Jan warned about... the letter opener being casually called a murder weapon seems to be the first hint that things are not as they seem at this health resort... which makes me wonder what Frances' friend Emily(?)'s experience was like.