The New One

Reader's Guide
The New One by Evie Green
Discussion Questions:


1. When does a human become a machine? As Sophie says, we start augmenting ourselves as soon as we do something such as wearing glasses. At what point does augmentations make one a different sort of being?

2. To what extent do you think Scarlett and Sophie are the same person?

3. Technology has developed dizzyingly fast in the past half century. I can remember when computers were huge, slow things with flashing
green cursors, and now almost everyone reading this book has a powerful one in their pocket, holding large parts of their life. Should technological progress continue, no matter the human consequences? At what point should we take action to tackle anxiety, radicalization, screen addiction, social alienation and related issues?

4. What do you think would have happened to the family if they had stayed in Cornwall?

5. To what extent do you think it’s acceptable to modify who someone is in order to keep them alive if they haven’t given their consent?

6. Did you empathize more with Scarlett or Sophie?

7. Tamsyn and Ed’s reconciliation is more complex than it initially appears. Did you see that twist coming?

8. How much do you empathize with Ed’s and Tamsyn’s decision- making in Cornwall? What would you have done?

9. If you were to discover that someone in your life was actually a New One, who do you think it would be?

10. What do you think happens after the book’s ending?