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 Francesca's Kitchen:
1. How well is Francesca dealing with being an empty nester? How helpful are her friends...and what does her priest tell her? If she were your friend, what would you advise her? If you are "of an age" and also alone, can you relate to Francesca's circumstances?
2. How would you describe Francesca as a character? Do you know someone like her?
3. Why doesn't Francesca tell her children about her new job? What is she afraid of? If you were in her situation, would you do likewise? Or if your mother were in the same situation, how would you feel?
4. What does Francesca think about Loretta's household?
5. Is Loretta's situation typical of full-time working mothers or not? What are Loretta's anxieties regarding her life...and her initial anxieties regarding Francesca?
6. Talk about Penny and Will. Why do they initially distrust Francesca? How does Francesca first go about winning them over—and eventually changing the household for the better?
7. Consider the relationship between the two women, young and old. What eventually draws them together? What do they come to learn in the process of their budding relationship?
8. Do you enjoy the kitchen scenes and Francesca's approach to cooking? What about the recipes—have you tried them or do you intend to? How do they compare to your own recipes... or you own way of cooking?
9. Were you expecting the romance between Joey and Loretta to develop? When Joey returns why does Francesca begin to develop reservations about what she's doing?
10. In an age where the majority of women are in the workforce, and where the nuclear family has all but dissolved, what do you make of this story with it's emphasis on the traditional values regarding home and family? Do you find it out-dated...or a sort of "cautionary tale" about what is lacking in many modern households?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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