Siracusa (Ephron)

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher's questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use these LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for Siracusa...then take off on your own:

1. Lizzie comments at the beginning of Siracusa: "Husbands and wives collaborate, hiding even from themselves who is calling the shots and who is along for the ride." What exactly does she mean, and how does that observation portend events to come in the novel? Would you say that statement holds true for many marriages, if not most?

2. This book is about two imploding marriages. Talk about each marriage and what is at the root of those implosions. What are the ways in which the two couples differ from one another? Where are the fault lines, not just within the relationships, but also within each of the four personalities?

3. Michael, a novelist, says: "As for lying, in this story, which is also my  life, I will make a case for the charm of it." What does he mean? Is he distorting his own life for literary purposes?

4. What role does Snow play in all of this? How would you describe her?

5. Talk about how the characters are prone to both deception and self-deception. Do you find one character more sympathetic than the others? Lizzie, perhaps?

6. Describe the mother-daughter relationship between Taylor and Snow. Healthy? Unhealthy?

7. Of the various perspectives in this book, whose narration did you trust the most? Did that change over the course of the novel?

8. What do you make of Kath and her sudden appearance?

9. As a novel of psychological suspense, Ephron expertly piles up the clues. Were you able to sort them out by the end? Were you caught off guard?

10. Ultimately, what portrait does Ephron paint of marriage? Is her assessment overly dark, even cynical? Lizzie says, "Marriage can't protect you from heartbreak of the random cruelties and unfairnesses that life deals out." Is she right...or not?

11. Lizzie also tells us that "good comes of bad and all the absurdities play out in your favor." Does the story's plot seem to bear her out? Does real life?

12. Inevitable comparisons have been made between Siracusa and Ford Maddox Ford's masterpiece, The Good Soldier (1915). If you've read Ford's book, in what way do the two books resemble one another? If you haven't read The Good Soldier, you might consider reading it next and comparing the two.

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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