Our book club spent 6 weeks debating one word in a chapter title
We were reading a literary fiction novel and got stuck on whether the author meant "sanctuary" ironically or literally in chapter 4. Half the group swore it was a metaphor for trauma, the other half said it was just describing a church. We spent three full meetings going back and forth, looked up interviews with the author, and even emailed the publisher. Got a generic reply from an intern 4 weeks later that basically said "interpret it how you want." Has anyone else had a single phrase or word derail your entire book club discussion for that long?