Are you part of a book club or looking to start one? She’s a Lamb! by Meredith Hambrock makes a great book club pick!
Jessamyn St. Germain is a struggling musical theater actress hired to be the childminder for the kid actors in a production of The Sound of Music, and she is determined to steal the lead role by any means necessary.
Book Club Questions
For many readers, Jessamyn is a deeply unlikeable character, but they still found themselves rooting for her. Did you root for Jessamyn? Why do you think this is?
Jessamyn has a really narrow focus and more than a few blind spots. What do you think might’ve helped her widen her perspective? What was stopping her?
Jessamyn has a big opportunity in this book to become the lead in a new play called Sister Gorgeous that could’ve been her big break, but she turns it down. Why do you think she did this? What does her choice have to say about the cost of making art?
She’s a Lamb! joins a trend of books featuring “unhinged women.” What do you think of the term “unhinged woman?” Why do you think “unhinged woman” books are so popular right now?
Jessamyn is a great actress. What do you think it is about her that makes her great? What qualities make a great performer? What famous actresses might play her if this book ever adapted for film?
F***, Marry, Kill: Vishal, Rudy, Anton.
Seagulls screech onto the page more than a few times in this book. One of the epigraphs is from Chekhov’s famous play The Seagull. Has anyone ever seen or read this play? Did you find any connections here?
What do you think Jessamyn’s top five favourite musicals are?
This novel is, at its heart, a tragedy. What is the value of a tragic story?
Tragedies are known for having endings that are often inevitable. Do you think Jessamyn’s ending was inevitable, or do you think things could have ended differently for her if she’d made different decisions?
She’s a Lamb! is largely about the dangers of unbridled ambition. Do you think the relationship between art and delusion, or success and delusion, is a necessary one? Other than Jessamyn, do you think any other characters are living in delusion?
What do you think happens to Jessamyn after the final page? What alternate endings can you imagine for her?
