Daisy Darker

Daisy Darker is a homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Discuss the similarities and differences between the two novels. How does Feeney subvert readers’ expectations of the classic murder mystery genre?

Throughout the novel, Feeney depicts Seaglass as a character in its own right. How does the novel’s setting contribute to its plot and mood?

The motif of Flowers recurs throughout the text. How do the flowers tie into the novel’s preoccupations with identity and familial ties?

Daisy is an unintentionally unreliable narrator. How is her perspective of not only her death, but also her life, flawed or distorted? How does her narration illustrate some of the novel’s key themes and ideas?

Daisy states, “Pity fades with age, hate is lost and found, but guilt can last a lifetime” (8). How is guilt depicted in the novel? What forms does it take, and how does it affect the characters in different ways?

Discuss the role of Trixie Darker in the text. How is she characterized? How does her character arc help to illustrate some of the novel’s key themes and ideas?

Daisy is the protagonist of Feeney’s novel and the eponymous hero of Nana’s children’s book, Daisy Darker’s Little Secret. What is the role of intertextuality in the novel? What is the wider significance of books and stories?

How are notions of family and family bonds depicted in the novel? In what ways are the Darkers a “dysfunctional” family? In what ways are they shown sympathetically or in a more nuanced way?