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Book club questions for Julebord: The Holiday Party by David Øybo takes an in-depth look at this engaging and original story. There will be spoilers so for more context about the novel, check out my spoiler-free review first.
When not busy either with his family, or working nights as an internal medicine doctor in hospitals on islands, David Øybo is trying to finish the two remaining stories of the CORRELATIONS trilogy. Should there ever be enough time and space, he would get one more cat besides Maša. A male Russian Blue. The cat would be named VV (Vladimir Vladimirovich). As Maša is a lady, VV would need to be castrated. The locale this scribbler has chosen to call home on the dreary third planet of our solar system is the only city that truly deserves that designation: New York.
Apart from here on Goodreads, the author can be found on Instagram, under correlations_trilogy. As he scribbles and doesn’t tweet (or does any ‘x-ting’) you will not really find him on Twitter/”X”. He also doesn’t like showing his face too much and therefore no Facebook.
At the moment he is really passionate about SPOUTIBLE, but will be staying away from Threads.
The Synopsis
Should chief investigator James Wiley Redding of the Norwegian Police suspect that any of the doctors working in the small rural hospital of Godshus, located where a fjord meets the North Sea, might be linked to the gruesome discovery made on a December morning after their annual Julebord (holiday party)?
Much more whodunit than a diversified nordic noir novel, JULEBORD is laced with what life is like to work in a small rural hospital, where things and humans occasionally get dirty. Not merely a piece of – at times – a bit upmarket crime fiction, the story brings to the realization that in today’s small global village we are linked to each other in some way – whether we want to be or not and cannot hide from the events that affect us all.
Book Club Questions for Julebord: The Holiday Party
A reminder before the discussion begins. This novel features a unique style where readers can select how they read the novel and in what order:
- For the eBook version, the reader can select SWIPE, which tells the story in sequential order. Or the reader can choose the hopscotching—TAP, which bounces back and forth between the six doctors’ lives using hyperlinks.
- For the print version, reading sequentially is called TURN. However, instead of electronic hyperlinks, page indicators at the end of the chapters lead readers to the next destination in the printed book, where the hopscotch version is named FLICK.
- In a fresh storytelling style, the reader is given a choice on which path to read the novel. First, did you read the print or eBook version? And second, which reading path did you choose, and why?
- Now let’s discuss how the story would have felt different if we had chosen the other path in our preferred format. What are your overall thoughts on this storytelling style?
- The setting in a rural hospital in Norway provides a vivid and descriptive tone for the novel. How did this setting serve as an additional character and help to highlight the tension between the characters?
- The major event of the novel—the death of Dr. Anders Boisen-Jensen— happens after the traditional Julebord event. Did you know much about Julebord prior to reading the novel? Why was the event the ideal catalyst for what was to come?
- When the doctors can’t hide their expressions of guilt, chief investigator James Wiley Redding wonders if any of the doctors could have possibly been involved. As you read the novel, did you have suspicions that any of the doctors could have killed Anders? Who was the prime suspect in your mind?
- The story then provides an in-depth character study on these major characters: Dr. Alessandro Gianetti; Dr. Werner Bjerkness; Dr. Faiza Abdi Noor; Dr. Pia Andersen; Dr. Hana RØnneberg; and Dr. Anders. Why was it important for the reader to get to know these characters through multiple years, settings and timelines?
- Which storyline were you most engaged with, and why?
- There are several key connections throughout the years. For instance, Alessandro and Hana had a one-night stand after a Julebord and she got pregnant as a result. Anders and Pia also had a one-night stand; however, it was years before they worked together. And there’s several other connections as well. What was the significance of the connections to the larger themes of the story?
- As the book covers the 1960s to 2019, it also includes several key world events that help to shape the world as we know it today. Sometimes even the characters of the story were first-hand witnesses to these major events. Why was it important to include true historical events in this novel, and how did several of the events impact the characters?
- Many see doctors as ideal human beings as they are required to have the utmost skill and dedication to help people in need. But as this novel shows, they are still human and of course, full of flaws. And some are not good people at all. What are your thoughts about the perception that doctors are godlike, and how does that compare to the fictional doctors we read about in the novel?
- A key theme f the novel is power, and it appears many entered the medical field to obtain power of some sorts. Anders takes it all too far, while he is an extremely capable physician, he’s also a cruel and undermining boss. What was the root cause of why Anders approached life in such a destructive manner, including taking out his chronic anger on colleagues and subordinates? Do you feel several of his actions were a result of experiencing parental alienation (PA) as a child, resulting in the loss of the relationship with one of his parents? Have you encountered PA prior to reading the novel?
- Faiza is a sympathetic character who underwent unimageable trauma as a young girl when she was a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM). What were your thoughts as you read about Faiza’s trauma and how she worked to move forward from it?
- Why didn’t Hana tell Alessandro the truth about Erik earlier? Do you see Alessandro trying to have a more active role in his son Erik’s life, even though he vowed not to tell the truth until Hana and Tore pass away?
- Pia is a racist whose angry thoughts cloud her every decision and action. While she keeps getting promoted, will her true nature one day be revealed?
- What was your overall impression of Werner’s storyline and progression?
- Each main character had an issue with Anders. Perhaps the angriest were Alessandro, Pia and Faiza who all took steps to hurt him in some way. What are your thoughts about their conflict with Anders and the vengeful actions they took against him? What do these actions say about Alessandro, Pia and Faiza?
- Chapter Seven takes us back to the noteworthy Julebord party. What did you anticipate would happen at the party?
- Eventually everything is exposed and investigator James Wiley determines that Anders’ death was simply an accident. What were your thoughts about this reveal?
- Prior to Anders’ death, the reader learns that Godshus General Hospital will eventually close for good. We also know a global pandemic awaits. Keeping all of this in mind, what do you predict will happen next for the main characters?
- The story features plenty of footnotes about Norwegian food, customs as well as important dates of history, in addition to key medical terms and descriptions. How did the footnotes help enrich the story?
- At the very end of the story, Chief Investigator Redding is finished with his investigation and ready to celebrate Kwanzaa with his daughter in Norway, and the reference to Kwanzaa happens to be the last footnote of the book. While the novel as a whole did not specify racial and ethnic identity, why was it important for us to know that James Wiley Redding is a Black cop from NYC?
