Before We Were Innocent

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, gender discrimination, and mental illness.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.



1. How did Berman’s use of dual timelines (2008 and 2018) affect your experience of the story? Did you find yourself more invested in one timeline over the other?

2. Both Before We Were Innocent and Berman’s debut novel, The Comeback, explore how media and public opinion can distort women’s identities and experiences. If you’ve read both works, how do you feel they complement each other in examining contemporary gender issues?

3. What was your initial reaction to the friendship dynamic between Bess, Joni, and Evangeline? How did your perception of their relationship evolve as the story progressed?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences

1. The novel explores how adolescent friendships can be simultaneously nurturing and destructive. How does this portrayal compare to your own experiences with friendship during your formative years?

2. Bess struggles with profound guilt and trauma following Evangeline’s death, withdrawing from public life. Have you ever experienced a situation where you needed to retreat from the world to process difficult emotions? How did you navigate that period?