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Book club questions for Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea explore the themes of explore the themes of friendship, courage, and resilience in the face of adversity during World War II.
This is a novel that takes its time, dear reader. The initial half is enjoyable—indeed, quite enjoyable—but not exactly gripping or captivating. It’s more intriguing than absorbing. However, brace yourself, because the second half becomes utterly irresistible. The narrative kicks into high gear, and I simply couldn’t put it down.
What were your impressions of this novel? ✨
Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
I hope you will enjoy the thoughtfully crafted book club questions tailored for Good Night, Irene in this blog post. Further below you will also find a downloadable PDF version I’ve prepared for your book clubs (available at the bottom of the post), along with supplementary suggestions for books that share similar themes and narratives.
Let me know if you find these book club questions useful. I’m excited to hear your unique perspectives during your book club discussions!
Book Club Questions | Additional Recommendations | Printable List
About the Story
Good Night, Irene is a powerful and deeply personal novel that transports us to the front lines of World War II.
It tells the remarkable story of Irene Woodward, who leaves behind an abusive fiancé in New York to join the Red Cross and head to Europe. There, she forms an unbreakable friendship with Dorothy Dunford, and together, they become part of an elite group of women known as the Donut Dollies. Their mission is to provide companionship and a taste of home to soldiers at the front lines.
As Irene and Dorothy journey through the harrowing battles of WWII, they face danger and forge deep connections, including a love affair with an American fighter pilot named Hans.
Inspired by his mother’s Red Cross service, author Luis Alberto Urrea beautifully captures the heroism, friendship, and resilience of women during wartime, making this novel an unforgettable tribute to their courage and sacrifice.
About the Author
Luis Alberto Urrea is a celebrated writer known for his captivating storytelling, drawing from his rich experiences growing up with a Mexican father and American mother.
He’s received recognition as a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Guggenheim fellow, with 19 books under his belt, spanning poetry, fiction, and essays. His latest book, “Good Night, Irene,” is inspired by his mother’s Red Cross service, highlighting friendship and bravery in challenging times.
Urrea’s work includes the acclaimed novel “The House of Broken Angels” and “The Water Museum,” a collection of short stories, among others, earning him prestigious awards and accolades. His writing has been chosen for community reads in over 100 cities and colleges.
Luis Alberto Urrea’s remarkable storytelling talent and diverse body of work have made him a prominent figure in contemporary literature.
Book Club Questions for Good Night, Irene
- Irene and Dorothy both have distinct motivations for joining the Clubmobile Corps. What do you believe are their individual expectations and desires in joining, and do they ultimately find what they were seeking?
- The Rapid City’s commandments include phrases like “Roll on down the road,” “Don’t look back,” and “Never surrender.” How do these principles manifest in the daily lives of the women? How does adhering to these commandments influence their perception of their role in the war?
- Dorothy observes that everyone adores Irene. Why do you think Irene cultivates this particular image of herself? How does her self-presentation differ from Dorothy’s when interacting with the GIs? Do the personas they project to the soldiers contrast with who they truly are to each other?
- The book’s ending has received mixed reviews. What are your thoughts on how the author chose to conclude Irene and Dorothy’s story? Did it feel satisfying and true to their characters, or did it leave you with unanswered questions?
- Luis Alberto Urrea based this novel on his mother’s experiences as a Donut Dollie. How did the real-life inspiration add depth and authenticity to the story? Did knowing this background information change your perspective on the book?
- Throughout the novel, there are moments of humor, camaraderie, and resilience amidst the grim backdrop of war. Can you share some of your favorite quotes or scenes that highlighted these aspects of the story?
- Irene and Dorothy undergo a significant shift in their perspectives on the war during one night in a small French town. How does this particular night alter their outlooks on the war, soldiers, and officers?
- How does the transition from the front lines to R&R in Cannes prompt the women to reflect on their wartime experiences thus far? Would they have arrived at these realizations without the break? In what ways does the break affect their return to the Rapid City and their ongoing service?
- Zoot’s various encounters with the women reveal different facets of his character, particularly in relation to his views on the deaths of both combatants and non-combatants. How does he perceive death, and how do his perspectives evolve throughout the war?
- The book features the friendship between Irene and Dorothy, two very different women who become Donut Dollies during World War II. How did their personalities and backgrounds shape their experiences in the war? How did their friendship evolve throughout the story?
- Irene leaves behind an abusive fiancé in New York to join the Red Cross. How did her decision to enlist impact her personal growth and her perception of self-worth? How did her experiences in the war change her as a person?
- Dorothy is a complex character who carries a lot of anger and pain due to her brother’s death and her family’s losses. How did her character evolve as she faced the challenges of war and developed her friendship with Irene? What did you think about her quest for revenge?
- During the Battle of the Bulge, Irene finds herself alone at Bastogne and begins to lose a sense of herself, time, and reality without her truckmates. How do her companions anchor her, and how has her identity become intertwined with the truck and her fellow crew members?
- Throughout the book, the Rapid City receives letters from soldiers they’ve encountered. What role do these letters play? How do they impact the women and their experiences?
- The book depicts the harrowing liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp. How did the author’s vivid descriptions of this event impact your understanding of the horrors of World War II? How did it affect the characters involved, particularly Irene and Dorothy?
- Irene falls in love with Hans, an American fighter pilot. How did their love story add to the overall narrative of the book? How did it provide a sense of hope and connection during the wartime setting?
- The book sheds light on the often-overlooked role of women in World War II, specifically the Donut Dollies. How did reading about their contributions change your perception of the war and its impact on women’s lives?
- If this book were to be adapted into a movie, who would you cast in the roles of Irene and Dorothy, and why? What scenes do you think would be especially powerful on the big screen?
Additional Recommendations
Hope you enjoyed the book club discussion questions and reading guide for Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea!
Here are some more of my book club recommendations related to this book:
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
In this “raucous, moving, and necessary” story by a Pulitzer Prize finalist (San Francisco Chronicle), the De La Cruzes, a family on the Mexican-American border, celebrate two of their most beloved relatives during a joyous and bittersweet weekend.
“All we do, mija, is love. Love is the answer. Nothing stops it. Not borders. Not death.”
In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz, affectionately called Big Angel, has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly one hundred, dies, transforming the weekend into a farewell doubleheader. Among the guests is Big Angel’s half brother, known as Little Angel, who must reckon with the truth that although he shares a father with his siblings, he has not, as a half gringo, shared a life.
Across two bittersweet days in their San Diego neighborhood, the revelers mingle among the palm trees and cacti, celebrating the lives of Big Angel and his mother, and recounting the many inspiring tales that have passed into family lore, the acts both ordinary and heroic that brought these citizens to a fraught and sublime country and allowed them to flourish in the land they have come to call home.
Teeming with brilliance and humor, authentic at every turn, The House of Broken Angels is Luis Alberto Urrea at his best, and cements his reputation as a storyteller of the first rank.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake.
As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart.
As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
The Covenant of Water is the long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, the author of the major word-of-mouth bestseller Cutting for Stone, which has sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States alone and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years.
Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala’s long-existing Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time.
From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl—and future matriarch, known as Big Ammachi—will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.
A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the difficulties undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. It is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.
Printable PDF
Feel free to distribute these discussion questions to your book club members before your meeting. Simply click the link below to download and print the PDF file.
Happy reading! ❤️