Haunting Adeline

Adeline is independently successful, and she notes that she has the freedom to live wherever she chooses. What keeps her from moving out of Parsons Manor after she discovers she has a stalker? How does she justify remaining in the house, and how does this reflect on the plot of her and Zade’s relationship?

Early on, Zade establishes his obsession with Adeline. Is there evidence in the text that Zade is in love with Adeline? How does Zade define love? What evidence might suggest that Adeline is more of an object of Zade’s obsession than a person with whom he is in love?

Daya seems to support Adeline no matter what. Is Daya a good friend? In what ways does Daya support Adeline, and at what point might that support turn into enabling Adeline’s irrational decisions?

Zade has constructed an organization to end human trafficking, and yet he sexually assaults and controls Adeline. What aspects of the dark romance and noncon/dubcon genres make Zade’s contradictory actions plausible? How can one come to a judgment about Zade’s morality when he claims he makes his own moral judgments?

The trajectory of Gigi’s life and romance with Ronaldo is meant to parallel Adeline’s involvement with Zade. In what ways do Gigi and Adeline’s stories differ? Are Ronaldo and Zade comparable as stalkers, and do they fulfill the same role in their victims’ lives? Why or why not?

Zade reveals that Arch and Max are both abusive toward women, as are Mark’s associates and Daniel Boveri later in the novel. How does the pattern of abusing women and children relate to Zade’s role in the novel? How does the prevalence of domestic and sexual abusers impact Adeline’s situation?

Adeline admits that she is fascinated by the macabre and even aroused by fear. What does this fascination reveal about her character, and how does her association of fear and arousal fuel her relationship with Zade?

Zade envisions a relationship with Adeline in normative terms, referencing love, marriage, and children, yet he engages in his relationship with Adeline by forcing his presence on her and making it clear that she cannot escape. What accounts for the contradiction between how he envisions the relationship and what it really is? By the novel’s end, is Adeline really in love with Zade? Use examples from the text to support your response.