Shark Heart: A Love Story

Both Lewis and Angela mutate into dangerous apex predators who pose a physical threat to Wren as she cares for them. Of all the animals, why do you think Habeck chose predatory ones for her characters to become? What is the significance of the physical dangers they present for Wren?

Consider the title of the book. What is the “shark heart,” exactly, and who has it?

Habeck places great emphasis on setting throughout the book, shifting between the Great Plains, California, the Pacific Ocean, and New York City. What significance do these places hold for the characters in Shark Heart, and why?

Human-to-animal transfiguration is a motif that has appeared throughout literary history, occurring in notable works such as Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Villeneuve’s Beauty and the Beast. Compare Shark Heart with another piece of literature that uses this motif; how is human-animal transformation used to communicate different ideas in each work, and how do these respective uses correspond to their literary contexts?

Lewis repeatedly refers to his wife as “Wren, like the bird” (20). Why do you think this phrase is repeated so frequently? How does the meaning of her name relate to the broader theme of human-animal transfiguration throughout the book?

Shark Heart is a popular piece of fabulist literature. Which parts of the book are “magical,” and how does Habeck blend these aspects with the everyday and mundane?

Analyze the book’s opening scene, in which Wren and Lewis volley romantic monologues with one another. What tone does this scene set for the rest of the book, and does the book fulfill or subvert those expectations?

Angela insists to Wren that “dying and changing are […] very different” (302). Does Shark Heart present the mutation process as an analog for death? What does this suggest about death?