Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for RODHAM ... and then take off on your own:
1. How does this book portray the Hillary we know from her long years in the public's eye? Is the portrayal credible? Is the Hillary Rodham in this novel the same woman (we think) we have known through years of watching and hearing her? What kind of inner life does the novel reveal?
2. Talk about Hillary's 1969 commencement speech at Wellsley, which has been a famous touchstone throughout her public career. Why do you think Curtis Sittenfeld included it in this novel? What does it reveal about Hillary?
3. Talk about Bill Clinton. How does he come across in the novel? Is it a fair portrait, unfair, a funny one, or unpleasant one?
4. Talk about the sexism and the double standard ever present in American politics that Settinfeld details explicitly. Does her depiction feel about right to you? Does she over- or under-do it?
5. What about portrayals of other real-life characters, primarily Donald Trump?
6. In what way does Hillary's youthful idealism fade as she engages with the realities of politics? Is that loss of idealism inevitable? Why or why not?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)
Rodham (Sittenfeld) - Discussion Questions
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