Certain Age (Williams)

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

1. What do you think of Theresa Marshall? Is it possible to feel sympathy for her? In what way might you say she is product of her times, reflecting the era in which she lives?

2. Consider Sophie Fortescue. Yes, she is innocent, but how else would you describe her? How does Sophie represent the rise of a new kind of woman in the early 20th century?

3. How did World War I impact Octavian--although he survived virtually unscathed on the outside, what internal scars does he carry?

4. What do Theresa and Octavian see in one another? She is twice his age, calls him Boyo, never by his name, and manipulates and controls him. What do both gain (aside from the obvious) from the relationship?

5. Describe the era itself in which Beatriz Williams sets her story. Williams herself has said A Certain Age reflects the conflict between "old money and new, young and old, past and present"? How so? Consider, too, the changes wrought by new technologies. Do you see any parallels between then and now?

6. Talk about the attraction between Sophie and Octavian and, especially, the connection they share from the past.

7. Why does Williams lead with the scandal and the "trial of the century"? In other words, why do readers get the "reveal" so early in the story? How does the knowledge affect your reading of the book?

(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.)

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