In Five Years

The novel opens with Dannie’s beliefs about rules and plans and a life that can be numerically quantified. What impression does this discussion give of Dannie, and how does the novel advance or complicate it?

How does the trauma of Dannie’s brother’s death shape her as a person? How do Bella’s diagnosis and death complicate Dannie’s relationship with loss?

Dannie knows Aaron by his first name before he is introduced to her as Greg. Why do you think Serle gave him two names? What is the purpose of having Dannie and Bella refer to him by different names?

How do fate and free will interact with each other in the novel? Does the book argue for one over the other?

Dannie’s premonition is a moment of magical realism in an otherwise realistic novel. Why do you think Serle used this device?

At the beginning of the novel, Dannie believes she will become romantically involved with Aaron because of their lovemaking. At the end, the lovemaking occurs but is not for romantic reasons. What purpose does the undermining of this assumption serve for the narrative? What about for the reader?

Dannie’s early description of Bella’s flaws is undone throughout her weeks of treatment. What does it mean that Dannie is able to form a more nuanced and insightful view of her best friend in her final days?

The novel establishes the expectation of a romantic rivalry between Aaron and David but ultimately does not deliver. How does the book first support and then subvert this expectation?