Everything is Beautiful

guidance, support and belief, and for finding the book such perfect homes.
I’m so grateful to the fantastic team at Piatkus, with special thanks to my talented editors Emma Beswetherick, Anna Boatman, Amanda Keats and Penny Isaac; their enthusiasm for Amy and her story has blown me away. Thank you to my publishers abroad – Cordelia Borchardt at Krüger, Kate Dresser at Simon & Schuster and more I’ve yet to meet.
Special thanks to my baby daughter Violet for sleeping sweetly through the sound of keys tapping. And to my son Teddy for the treasures he collects and the diggers he loves.

1 Is Amy a likeable character? What are her positive and negative traits? How do we learn about who she is?
2 At one point Amy says that the new friendship between her female neighbours reminds her of school. To what extent are neighbours/workmates like school classmates?
3 What part do her neighbours play in Amy’s life? How does that change throughout the narrative?
4 Why does Amy choose to share her troubled past with a child?
5 Throughout the story, there are hints about why Amy collects certain things. Which did you find the most memorable/ mysterious?
6 What is the significance of Amy’s attachment to birds?
7 How did the flashbacks affect the pace of the book? How did the events of the backstory compare with the present-day development?
8 Were there any hints that the villain of the story was not trustworthy?
9 If you were Amy, would you have been able to forgive Chantel?
10 What would you say is the key message of this book?