Life Is Short But Wide (Cooper)

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)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Life Is Short But Wide:

1. Talk about the hardships encountered by the two couples: Val and Irene, and Bertha and Joseph.

2. How do the the two sisters, Tante and Rose, differ? Which sister do you most admire?

3. Why does Cooper choose 91-year-old Hattie to narrate the story? What does she bring to the narrative?

4. How does Herman Tenderman's return complicate the events of the story?

5. Which characters in this multi-generational saga do you sympathize with most...and least?

6. What is the significance of the novel's title?

7. Ultimately, what lessons in life do characters learn? What are the messages that Cooper works to convey in her novel?

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

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