Girl at War
Sara Novic, 2015
Random House
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780812996340
Summary
A powerful debut novel about a girl’s coming of age—and how her sense of family, friendship, love, and belonging is profoundly shaped by war.
Zagreb, 1991. Ana Juric is a carefree ten-year-old, living with her family in a small apartment in Croatia’s capital. But that year, civil war breaks out across Yugoslavia, splintering Ana’s idyllic childhood.
Daily life is altered by food rations and air raid drills, and soccer matches are replaced by sniper fire. Neighbors grow suspicious of one another, and Ana’s sense of safety starts to fray. When the war arrives at her doorstep, Ana must find her way in a dangerous world.
New York, 2001. Ana is now a college student in Manhattan. Though she’s tried to move on from her past, she can’t escape her memories of war—secrets she keeps even from those closest to her. Haunted by the events that forever changed her family, Ana returns to Croatia after a decade away, hoping to make peace with the place she once called home.
As she faces her ghosts, she must come to terms with her country’s difficult history and the events that interrupted her childhood years before.
Moving back and forth through time, Girl at War is an honest, generous, brilliantly written novel that illuminates how history shapes the individual. Sara Nović fearlessly shows the impact of war on one young girl—and its legacy on all of us.
It’s a debut by a writer who has stared into recent history to find a story that continues to resonate today. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1987
• Where—the State of New Jersey, USA
• Education—M.F.A., Columbia University
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York
Sara Novic was born in 1987 and has lived in the United States and Croatia, where she still has family and friends. She earned her MFA from Columbia University, where she studied fiction and translation.
Novic is the fiction editor at Blunderbuss Magazine and teaches writing at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Columbia University. She lives in Queens, New York. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
From its first sentence, Sara Novic’s debut novel unfolds on both intimate and immense scales....[and] the first section ends with a brilliantly abrupt, devastating event...a scene that haunts the rest of the book.... [Novic is] a writer whose...gravity and talent anchor this novel.
John Williams - New York Times
Sara Novic's outstanding first novel…Girl at War performs the miracle of making the stories of broken lives in a distant country feel as large and universal as myth. It is a brutal novel, but a beautiful one.
Anthony Marra - New York Times Book Review
Remarkable.
Julia Glass - Boston Globe
A shattering debut.... The book begins with what deserves to become one of contemporary literature’s more memorable opening lines. The sentences that follow are equally as lyrical as a folk lament and as taut as metal wire wrapped through an electrified fence.
USA Today
Powerful and vividly wrought.... Novic writes about horrors with an elegant understatement. In cool, accomplished sentences, we are met with the gravity, brutality and even the mundaneness of war and loss as well as the enduring capacity to live.
San Francisco Chronicle
If we looked for and celebrated a ‘book of the summer’ as we do that one song every year (what will it be this year?!), this novel would surely be this summer’s star. This debut work from a rising author examines in painful, tender detail the cost of war on a young woman, many years after her simple life with her family in Croatia was interrupted by war.
Vanity Fair
[A] gripping debut novel.... [Sara] Nović, in tender and eloquent prose, explores the challenge of how to live even after one has survived.
Oprah Magazine
This is a fine, sensitive novel, though the later scenes in Manhattan never reach the soaring heights of the sections set in wartime Croatia. Novic displays her talent, heightening the anticipation of what she will do next.
Publishers Weekly
Croatian-born Nović’s debut novel delivers a finely honed sense of what the [Balkan war's] bloodshed really meant for those who withstood it.... Nović’s heartbreaking book is all the more effective for its use of personal rather than sensational detail and will be embraced by a wide range of readers.
Library Journal
(Starred review.) Novic’s important debut brings painfully home the jarring fact that what happens in today’s headlines...is neither new nor even particularly the worst that humankind can commit..... Thanks to Nović’s considerable skill, Ana’s return visit to her homeland and her past is nearly as cathartic for the reader as it is for Ana.
Booklist
Understated, self-assured roman à clef of a young girl's coming of age in war-torn Croatia.... Elegiac, and understandably if unrelievedly so, with a matter-of-factness about death and uprootedness. A promising start.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use these LitLovers talking points to kick off a discussion for Girl at War...then take off on your own:
1. The book begins with the opening line, "The War in Zagreb began over a pack of cigarettes." Why might the author have led with that sentence? What effect does it have on how you came to see the events of the novel?
2. What is the power of telling this story from a child's point of view? What effect does it create for you as a reader rather than telling it from an adult perspective?
3. Talk about the ways in which the war changed the lives of the children. How does the war affect the idea of "normalcy" for them? Consider, for instance, the war games that the children play.
4. The setting of the novel shifts from Croatia to the U.S., and to New York City specifically. How does that change affect the novel—it's writing, plot, and characters? Do you feel this part is as vivid as the earlier Croatian section? Why or why not?
5. When Ana speaks at the UN, she says "there’s no such thing as a child soldier in Croatia.... There is only a child with a gun." What does she mean? Following her testimony, Ana has lunch with Sharon Stanfield. Why does Sharon pique Ana's anger?
6. After 9/11, Ana feels uncomfortable in that she doesn't feel as if she, or Americans, are truly in a "war." How have Americans and Europeans, especially Slavs, experienced being "a nation at war"?
7. In what ways have Ana's and her sister's divergent experiences shaped their lives and how they respond to the world? How does each relate to their American parents?
8. How does the concept of pluralism in the U.S. contrast with Slavic culture's pervasive ethnic identification? How does Ana respond to this difference?
9. Ana is consumed by memories. She and her professor discuss German author W.G. Sebald and his philosophy on memory—that memory is imperfect and rarely the "searing of certain trauma into one's mind." Do you find the quotation ironic in relation to Ana? How does Ana respond?
10. Follow-up to Question 9 on memory: Why does Luca's remark toward the end of the book that "You don’t need to experience something to remember it" What exactly does he mean...and is he right?
11. On her return to Croatia, how does Ana experience Zagreb, her old friends, and Tiska on the Adriatic? What do you think the future holds for Ana and Luka? Will Ana stay in the US or return to Croatia permanently?
12. How much did you know about the Yugoslav war before you read Girl at War? What have you learned after reading the novel? What struck you most, or shocked you most, in the book?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
Eight Hundred Grapes
Laura Dave, 2015
Simon & Schuster
272 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781476789255
Summary
There are secrets you share, and secrets you hide….
Growing up on her family’s Sonoma vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. The secret behind ending a fight: hold hands.
But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.
Georgia does what she’s always done: she returns to the family vineyard, expecting the comfort of her long-married parents, and her brothers, and everything familiar. But it turns out her fiancé is not the only one who’s been keeping secrets….
Eight Hundred Grapes is a heartbreaking, funny, and deeply evocative novel about love, marriage, family, wine, and the treacherous terrain in which they all intersect. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—July 18, 1977
• Raised—Scarsdale, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Pennsylvania; M.F.A., University of Virginia
• Awards—Association of Writers and Writing Programs Intro Award
• Currently—lives in Los Angeles, California
Laura Dave is an American author of several novels, including London Is The Best City In America (2006), The Divorce Party (2008), The First Husband (2011), and Eight Hundred Grapes (2015). She most often writes about relationships, family, infidelity, and marriage.
Dave, whose interest in writing began in elementary school, grew up in Scarsdale, New York. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999 with a B.A. in English and from the University of Virginia with an M.F.A. in creative writing. She was a Henry Hoyns Fellow and a recipient of the Tennessee Williams Scholarship. She received several awards for her writing including the AWP Intro Award in Short Fiction.
After graduate school, Dave worked as a freelance journalist for ESPN.
In addition to her novels, Dave's short fiction and essays have been published in the New York Times, New York Observer, ESPN, Redbook, and Huffington Post. She has appeared on CBS's The Early Show, Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends and NPR's All Things Considered. In 2008, Cosmopolitan named her a "Fun and Fearless Phenom of the Year.
She lives with her screenwriter husband, Josh Singer, in Los Angeles, California. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 9/3/2015.)
Book Reviews
Secrets and love affairs on a Sonoma vineyard mean reading with wine is basically mandatory.
Cosmopolitan
Need a vacation? Dave will transport you with mouthwatering lasagna, breathtaking vistas—and an unforgettable lesson in loyalty.
Glamour
The idyllic life of Georgia Ford is crashing down—oh, and it’s just days before her wedding. Cue cold feet.
Marie Claire
Dave’s tightly woven family drama is best enjoyed with a glass of wine (or two); readers found this one impossible to put down. (#1 Reader's Prize Selection)
Elle
This novel’s hero discovers the complexity of human relationships and desires amid the well-researched backdrop of a fictional Sonoma winery.
Wine Enthusiast
[C]harms and pulls at the heartstrings...well-crafted.... [T]he author throws in a few secrets about winemaking—in fact, the title is a reference to the number of grapes needed to produce a bottle of wine. This winning tale will...satisfy on a literary level....[A] tasty treat.
Publishers Weekly
Fast-moving chapters and snappy dialog make this a quick, breezy, perfect beach read, but the story would improve if the protagonist had some romantic love scenes and a bit more passion.... [Laura Dave] is gaining a following and finding her spot next to the likes of Emily Giffin and Nancy Thayer. —Sonia Reppe, Stickney-Forest View P.L., IL
Library Journal
Through a series of flashbacks that range from canny to cloying, we learn how the Ford family has reached [their] collective crisis point. Resolutions arrive slowly and often unexpectedly for each of them, giving this satisfying novel legs.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the myth of the yellow VW bug and the Ford family’s belief in "synchronization" as opposed to fate. How does this theory evolve over the course of the novel?
2. Do you think Georgia feels she has agency in the beginning of the story? The end? Is she right?
3. Georgia has made a lot of life choices to avoid repeating an upbringing that involved unpredictability. How does your life resist or yield to your own childhood? Discuss how that relates to the definition of "concerto" and its varying degrees of cooperation and opposition.
4. As twins, Finn and Bobby are often at odds with each other. In what ways do you think they are alike? Why do you think it’s so difficult for them to connect?
5. The one common denominator for the Ford siblings is love of their mother’s lasagna. Do you have a similar tradition in your family? What brings you together, no matter what?
6. Discuss the role of the contract that Georgia asks her brothers to sign. Why is she so afraid of the vineyard? Can you relate?
7. How does forgiveness play into this story? Could you forgive Ben for hiding Maddie? Could you forgive Finn for kissing Margaret?
8. Georgia insists on doing everything in her power to stop her loved ones from doing something they’ll regret. Discuss her mother’s response, "But which way is regret?" What do you think she means here?
9. Why is Jacob unexpectedly appealing to Georgia? Discuss their similarities, both in personality and life paths.
10. Georgia’s father has many rules of winemaking, like: "If you do your job," then, "you make good soil." He also has "a theory that what was equally as important as the wine you presented in your vintage was the wine you left out of the vintage. In winemaking, this was known as declassification." How do these rules apply to decision making on a larger scale? Do you think Georgia abides by them?
11. Who are Georgia’s "have-to-haves" at the end of the novel? Who are the have-to-haves in your own life?
12. Ben takes full responsibility for lying, but Finn points out that Georgia wasn’t necessarily tuned in to her fiancé. Discuss whether there are two sides to every conflict, even when something seems black and white.
13. Do you think that Georgia will be happy running the vineyard and being with Jacob? Why or why not? What’s the biggest lesson she has learned?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
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The Book of Speculation
Erika Swyler, 2015
St. Martin's Press
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250054807
Summary
Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound.
His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival.
One June day, an old book arrives on Simon's doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on speculation.
Fragile and water damaged, the book is a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s, who reports strange and magical things, including the drowning death of a circus mermaid. Since then, generations of "mermaids" in Simon's family have drowned--always on July 24, which is only weeks away.
As his friend Alice looks on with alarm, Simon becomes increasingly worried about his sister. Could there be a curse on Simon's family? What does it have to do with the book, and can he get to the heart of the mystery in time to save Enola?
In the tradition of Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, and Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, Erika Swyler's The Book of Speculation—with two-color illustrations by the author—is a moving debut novel about the power of books, family, and magic. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—on Long Island, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., New York University
• Currently—lives on Long Island, New York
Erika Swyler is a graduate of New York University. Her short fiction has appeared in WomenArts Quarterly Journal, Litro, Anderbo.com, and elsewhere. Her writing is featured in the anthology Colonial Comics, and her work as a playwright has received note from the Jane Chambers Award.
Born and raised on Long Island's North Shore, Erika learned to swim before she could walk, and happily spent all her money at traveling carnivals. She blogs and has a baking Tumblr with a following of 60,000. Erika recently moved from Brooklyn back to her hometown, which inspired the setting of the book. The Book of Speculation is her 2015 debut novel. Her second, Light from Other Stars, was published in 2019. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
In Swyler’s whimsically dark debut, a damaged journal… finds its way to Simon Watson, a Long Island librarian in the present with a family history that seems to be tied up in the mysterious tome.… [A] fully formed mythos chock full of curses, omens, and coincidences, all of which help make up for the story’s weak points.
Publishers Weekly
[A] melancholy world with hints of magic at the edges. When the narrative shifts from the emotionally myopic Simon to the circus, the story really starts to gleam. Each member of the troupe shimmers with mystery.… Fans of… novels] with a hint of the supernatural...won't want to leave this festival. —Liza Oldham, Beverly, MA
Library Journal
When a young librarian comes into possession of the diary of a traveling circus from more than 200 years ago, he decides the book may hold clues to a family mystery he needs to solve to save his sister's life..... A bit fey, even as romantic whimsy. For die-hard mermaid-fiction lovers only.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. How are the dual narratives—the present-day story and the one from the 1790s—set apart? In what ways are they connected? How do the characters and events in one narrative play off of those in the other?
2. What part do various languages play in both narratives? Why do you think the author chose to make Amos mute?
3. Simon has vivid memories of his childhood, whereas Amos has little recollection of his. What part does the fragile nature of memory play in each of their lives?
4. Enola and Simon have dramatically different reactions to their shared childhood. Why do you think Enola flees and Simon stays? How does their relationship influence their choices in both the past and in the present?
5. Different types of magic are woven throughout the story and individual characters are drawn to specific kinds—water magic, tarot cards, book magic, etc. Which characters resonate with which kinds of magic? Are you drawn to a particular type of magic? Do you have to believe in magic to appreciate this novel?
6. How does Simon’s concept of home change over the course of the story? How does it compare with other characters’ ideas about home? What does home mean to you?
7. “Haven’t you ever felt connected to a book?” Churchwarry asks Simon. What do books mean to him and to Simon? Do you have a book that you feel is uniquely yours?
8. “You can’t find family in a book,” Alice warns Simon early on. What does he find in the book that Churchwarry sends him, and what does he learn in other ways?
9. What is the significance of various forms of water (including the ocean, flooding, etc.) throughout the story? What is the role of the horseshoe crabs?
10. What do you think about illustrated novels in general or this one in particular? How did the author’s drawings influence your view of the characters and events?
11. How much do you know about curses, and do you believe in them? At the end, do you think the curse is broken or does the reappearance of the cards mean that it still lives on?
12. Near the end of the book, Simon observes, “We carry our families like anchors, rooting us in storms, making sure we never drift from where and who we are. We carry our families within us the way we carry our breath underwater, keeping us afloat, keeping us alive. I’ve been lifting anchors since I was eighteen. I’ve been holding my breath since before I was born.” What meaning does this passage have for you?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Admissions
Meg Mitchell Moore, 2015
Knopf Doubleday
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780385540049
Summary
The frazzled pressure cooker of modern life as a seemingly perfect family comes undone by a few desperate measures, long-buried secrets—and college applications!
The Hawthorne family has it all. Great jobs, a beautiful house in one of the most affluent areas of northern California, and three charming kids with perfectly straight teeth. And then comes their eldest daughter's senior year of high school . . .
Firstborn Angela Hawthorne is a straight-A student and star athlete, with extracurricular activities coming out of her ears and a college application that's not going to write itself. She's set her sights on Harvard, her father's alma mater, and like a dog with a chew toy, Angela won't let up until she's basking in crimson-colored glory.
Except her class rank as valedictorian is under attack, she's suddenly losing her edge at cross-country, and she can't help but daydream about the cute baseball player in English class. Of course Angela knows the time put into her schoolgirl crush would be better spent coming up with a subject for her term paper—which, along with her college essay and community service hours has a rapidly approaching deadline.
Angela's mother, Nora, is similarly stretched to the limit, juggling parent-teacher meetings, carpool, and a real-estate career where she caters to the mega rich and super-picky buyers and sellers of the Bay Area.
The youngest daughter, Maya, still can't read at the age of eight; the middle-child, Cecily, is no longer the happy-go-lucky kid she once was; and the dad, Gabe, seems oblivious to the mounting pressures at home because a devastating secret of his own might be exposed.
A few ill-advised moves put the Hawthorne family on a heedless collision course that's equal parts achingly real and delightfully screwball.
Sharp and topical, The Admissions shows that if you pull at a loose thread, even the sturdiest of lives start to unravel at the seams of high achievement. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1971-72
• Raised—on military bases around the US
• Education—B.A., Providence College; M.A., New York University
• Currently—Newburyport, Massachusetts
Meg Mitchell Moore is an American author of several novels, including her most widely known, Admissions (2015). With a father in the U.S. Navy, she grew up on military bases around the country, eventually spending her senior year in Winter Harbor, Maine, where she graduated from high school.
From there Mitchell went to Providence College to earn her B.A. and spend a junior year abroad at Oxford University. Then it was on to New York University for her M.A. in English literature.
Following her school years, Mitchell moved to Boston, becoming a writer for technology magazines and, later, for a number of business and consumer magazines.
When her husband took a new job, the family—with an infant daughter and another on the way—moved to Vermont. It was a turning point for Mitchell, who eventually applied and was accepted into the storied Bread Loaf Writers' Conference at Middlebury College.
As she says on her website, she took up writing at a very young age: the moment she "figured out how the cursive T and F were different. So while Mitchell always wanted to write, Bread Loaf convinced her that she needed to.
Her debut The Arrivals came out in 2011, followed the next year by So Far Away. Her third book, Admissions, was published in 2015. Regarding the length parents will go to get their children into top colleges, the novel was inspired by living in California for a single year. There Mitchell witnessed parents who would do what it took, no matter the toll on the family, to ensure their children got the best (and most expensive) shot in life. Admissions was well received: Publishers Weekly called it "a page turner as well as an insightful character study."
A fourth novel, The Captain's Daughter (2017), takes place in Maine, a setting loosely based on Winter Harbor where Mitchell spent her last year in high school. (Adapted from various online sources and the author's webpage.)
Book Reviews
[S]tellar.... Moore successfully conveys how the quest for excellence spares no one in this industrious clan: even cheerful middle child, Cecily, loses her sense of self after a mistake costs her dance team. This is a page-turner as well as an insightful character study.
Publishers Weekly
[Meg Mitchell Moore's] unique voice and unflinching yet sympathetic perspective combine to create a story that is fresh and unexpectedly entertaining. Moore presents her characters in all their flawed glory and lovable short-sighted determination, spinning out the story of one family’s collapse and rebirth with energy and wit. Part thought-provoking commentary, part zany satire on the definition of success and the choices some are willing to make to achieve it, this is a book that is sure to earn a good deal of attention.
RT Book Reviews
The members of a high-achieving Marin County family face their fears: applying to college, blowing a deal, revealing their secrets.... Moore has an excellent eye for the minutiae of upper-middle-class life, but it gets exhausting immersing yourself in another family's worries on top of your own. Moore's readers may find this book cuts a little too close to home.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.)
Maybe in Another Life
Taylor Jenkins Reid, 2015
Washington Square Press
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781476776880
Summary
A young woman whose fate hinges on the choice she makes after bumping into an old flame; in alternating chapters, we see two possible scenarios unfold—with stunningly different results.
At the age of twenty-nine, Hannah Martin still has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She has lived in six different cities and held countless meaningless jobs since graduating college.
On the heels of leaving yet another city, Hannah moves back to her hometown of Los Angeles and takes up residence in her best friend Gabby’s guestroom. Shortly after getting back to town, Hannah goes out to a bar one night with Gabby and meets up with her high school boyfriend, Ethan.
Just after midnight, Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to go. A moment later, Ethan offers to give her a ride later if she wants to stay. Hannah hesitates. What happens if she leaves with Gabby? What happens if she leaves with Ethan?
In concurrent storylines, Hannah lives out the effects of each decision. Quickly, these parallel universes develop into radically different stories with large-scale consequences for Hannah, as well as the people around her.
As the two alternate realities run their course, Maybe in Another Life raises questions about fate and true love: Is anything meant to be? How much in our life is determined by chance? And perhaps, most compellingly: Is there such a thing as a soul mate?
Hannah believes there is. And, in both worlds, she believes she’s found him. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1984-85
• Where—Acton, Massachusettes, USA
• Education—Emerson College
• Currently—lives in Los Angeles, California
Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author, essayist, and TV writer from Acton, Massachusetts. Her debut novel, Forever, Interrupted (2013) has been optioned with Dakota Johnson attached to star. Her second book, After I Do (2014), was called a "must read" by Kirkus. Other novels include, Maybe In Another Life (2015), The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (2017), and Daisy Jones & The Six (2019).
In addition to her novels, Taylor's essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, xoJane, and a number of other blogs.
She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alex, and their dog, Rabbit. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[A] love story that asks tough questions...about making choices, taking responsibility, and believing in fate.... Verdict: While this novel has its annoyances..., it redeems itself with genuine surprises.... Readers looking for a romance with a twist won't be disappointed. —Amy Stenftenagel, Washington Cty. Lib., Woodbury, MN
Library Journal
(Starred review.) [T]wo parallel universes in which a young woman hopes to find her soul mate and change her life for the better....The larger question becomes whether Hannah's choices will ultimately affect her happiness.... Entertaining and unpredictable; Reid makes a compelling argument for happiness in every life.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Hannah opens the novel needing to find a sense of home, and a renewed, stronger sense of self. Does she find both of these things by the novel’s conclusion? Are they different in each ending, or more or less the same?
2. Hannah has a complicated and somewhat distant relationship with her family after they move to London. Hannah’s dad admits, “Your mother and I realized we had made a huge mistake not bringing you with us. We never should have let you stay in Los Angeles. Never should have left you” (page 125). What do you think about this statement? What does Hannah’s reaction to this confession indicate to you?
3. Why do you think Gabby makes such an effort to spell out her feminism?
4. There are some choices that Hannah faces in both of her stories. Can you identify these? Discuss whether her ultimate decisions differ or are the same in each plot thread. What is their significance?
5. Turn to p. 194 and reread the conversation Hannah has with Ethan from her hospital bed. What do you make of her statement, “Whatever would have happened wasn’t supposed to happen” (page 165)? Do you agree with Hannah that believing we’re all destined for something makes it easier to bear the harder moments?
6. Hannah says, “I’m starting to think maybe you just pick a place and stay there. You pick a career and do it. You pick a person and commit to him” (page 210). Is this idea—that sometimes, you just have to make a decision and stick with it—mutually exclusive with any notion of fate or destiny?
7. Reread Gabby and Hannah’s conversation about soul mates (pages 208–210). Do you agree with Hannah when she says that sometimes you can just tell about a person? Have you ever had a person about whom you felt you could just tell?
8. While on the surface, the novel may seem to focus on which man Hannah will end up with, there are several types of love explored in Maybe in Another Life. Discuss these as a group. Which of the many relationships depicted was your favorite? How did they change and grow in each storyline?
9. Mark tries to defend his decision to leave Gabby by saying, “I didn’t mean for it to happen. But when you have that kind of connection with someone, nothing can stand in its way” (page 273). What do you think about this? Do you agree with Hannah’s belief that “your actions in love are not an exception to who you are. They are in fact the very definition of who you are” (page 274)? How does this jibe with the idea that sometimes you can just tell someone is right for you?
10. Did you believe in fate when you started the novel? Did the novel change, challenge, or uphold your opinion?
11. Certainly some of the characters, including Hannah at times, believe in fate. Do you think the book itself suggests that fate exists? What about soul mates?
12. Did you find yourself rooting for one ending versus the other? Do you have an opinion on whether Hannah should have ended up with Henry or with Ethan? If you were Hannah, which ending would you have wanted for yourself?
13. Think about the statement that Jesse makes at the end of the novel: “Everything that is possible happens” (page 330). If that’s true, what do other versions of your life look like?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)