A provocative novel that examines the very heart of human endurance, Thief introduces readers to a heroine they will not soon forget. The target of a brutal crime at age sixteen, Suzanne has struggled with an inner turbulence for most of her adult life. Yet she defies conventional wisdom about survivors. Seeing herself as neither a shattered victim nor a vigilante, Suzanne embarks on a series of powerful but ultimately unsuccessful relationships. Then one summer she rents a cabin in the north woods of Minnesota, isolated from everything but her memories and her hunger for intensity. Through personal ads, she embarks on two liaisons. One of them begins as a gritty correspondence with a convict named Alpha Breville. The other brings her close to a drifter who is part angel, part howling dog. Through both men, Suzanne begins to probe the truth about herself --- and the truth about the long-ago night that has imprisoned her, body and soul.

The questions and discussion topics that follow are designed to enhance your reading of Maureen Gibbon’s Thief. We hope they will enrich your experience as you explore this unique portrait of trauma and its aftermath.