Reading Groups

Unreliable Narrators in Crime Fiction with Hilary Davidson

5 Sessions Wednesdays, 6:30 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT October 9, 2024 to January 8, 2025

Online via Zoom

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The ‘With Books’ option includes the titles required for this group at a 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
10/9, 10/30, 11/20, 12/11, 1/8
Held Online via Zoom

In fiction, few reveals are as thrilling and dramatic as a reader’s realization that they have been guided through a story by an unreliable narrator. It’s the literary equivalent of having the rug pulled out from under your feet. Such a discovery—whether slowly teased out or brought to light in one heart-stopping moment—makes the reader question everything they’ve been told.

Unreliable narrators misrepresent the truth but their reasons for doing so vary widely. In this course, we will explore different types of unreliable narrators: some driven by a desire to manipulate and mislead, others who suffer from mental instability. Trickiest of all are the unreliable narrators who play fair with the reader, telling them all that they know, only for the reader to discover that the narrator is a pawn who hasn’t fully grasped the horror of their circumstances.

As readers, encountering unreliable narrators forces us to read more closely and carefully, comparing what we know with what we are being told and deciding for ourselves where the truth lies.

What to read in advance of the first meeting: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

What to expect from this reading group: Each session will be conversational; participants are encouraged to express their views and ask questions. The group leader will also bring background material and questions for discussion.

Reading List:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Capacity: 20

Please note: All virtual classes are recorded. Please click here for information about our recording policy.

Led by

Hilary Davidson

Hilary Davidson

Hilary Davidson is an award-winning novelist and journalist. She is the author of two mystery series, one featuring amateur sleuth Lily Moore (The Damage Done, The Next One to Fall, and Evil in All Its Disguises), and the other featuring police detective Sheryn Sterling (One Small Sacrifice and Don’t Look Down). Hilary is also the author of two standalone novels (Her Last Breath and Blood Always Tells), a short-story collection (The Black Widow Club), and some fifty short stories, which have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Thuglit, Mystery Scene, Beat to a Pulp, and other publications. Her fiction has won two Anthony Awards and a Derringer Award and has been translated into French, German, Hungarian, Polish, and Russian.

As a journalist, she is the author of 18 nonfiction books and has published work in a wide range of venues including American Archaeology, CNN, Discover, Frommer’s, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Reader’s Digest. Originally from Toronto, she has lived in New York City since October 2001.

About this series

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