Reconstructing Natalie

Reading Guides

Reading Group Guide

1. Reconstructing Natalie begins with "I'm obsessed with breasts." Natalie Moore isn't a vain woman, she's a casual girl-next-door type, but her diagnosis of breast cancer has her focusing on some body parts she never paid that much attention to before. Are you obsessed with some part of your body? And if so, which part and why?
    
   
2. Natalie is only 27 years old when she's diagnosed with breast cancer. Do you think her age and the fact that she isn't married make that frightening diagnosis even more difficult? Do you think it would be easier to hear this if you were a married woman in your 50's or 60's?
    
   
3. Merritt and Jillian, Natalie's two best friends, throw her a "Boob Voyage" party the night before her mastectomy. Have any of your friends ever done something fun and silly like that to help you take your mind off a difficult or frightening situation? Would you do something similar for a friend?
    
   
4. After her surgery, Natalie is dependent on her friends and family to do things for her--many things she's accustomed to doing herself. Merritt demonstrates unconditional love and friendship to Natalie by doing things like helping to bath her and shampooing her hair. Would you do something that intimate for a friend?
    
   
5. Some people pull away from or abandon Natalie once she tells them she has breast cancer. Have you ever had a friend leave or abandon you during a difficult time?
    
   
6. Natalie makes the choice to have a prophylactic mastectomy so that she won't have to live in fear of her cancer recurring in the non-cancerous breast. Did that seem like a drastic step to you? Would you consider taking such a step if you had a similar diagnosis?
    
   
7. Some people at Natalie's church say thoughtless things to her when she's first diagnosed. Do you think they were being mean or just clueless? Have you ever had someone at church or work say something insensitive to you when you were going through a trying time? How did you handle it?
    
   
8. In the breast cancer support group, Natalie meets and befriends a group of women, all very different from one another, who have this disease in common. Have you ever found yourself connecting with someone so different than you as a result of one shared experience? What lesson might there be in this?
    
   
9. Natalie's cancer and treatment compels her to rethink her life and, as a result, make major changes. Has your life ever done a similar about-face due to a life-changing event?
    
   
10. Andy, Natalie's neighbor and best male friend, is a rock for her throughout her treatment and yet, by the end of the book, their relationship has changed and grown into something deeper. Do you think it's possible for a man and a woman to be close friends without becoming romantically involved? Have you?
     
    
11. Jane is a kind and loving example of someone whose faith sustains her through even the darkest hours. Do you have that same kind of faith, and would it provide you comfort and hope if you found yourself in a situation similar to Jane's?