- Sometimes it takes great courage to step out of the person we think we are and accept the person we may become. Why do you
think Julie decided it was time to take a chance on a different self? Is she being smart or naive or ungrateful?
- Julie, Kayla, and Aggie have been friends since childhood. They still do a lot of things together. Do you think they’ve grown
together or differently? Has their friendship developed as they matured as people, or are they still together out of habit?
Can friends change in major ways and still connect?
- Our friends can be great supporters, cheerleaders, shoulders to cry on. Sometimes they’re the ones to give us a quick reality
check. What do you think are the most important characteristics of good friends? Which characteristics do you think Aggie
and Kayla have? Are they good friends to Julie, and is she to them?
- Sometimes love can be smothering. Julie’s mother has always tried to control things. When she and Lucky were kids, she took
it upon herself to take care of her younger twin brother. When her husband died, she made sure that Julie would have a secure
future. What do you think drove her to be so fiercely independent and to protect her loved ones? Why do you think she couldn’t
let go? Do you think she will still oversee Julie even in her new choices?
- As a little girl Julie wanted Lucky to be a father, but Lucky was often gone and disappointed her. Lucky tried to do what
he could but was sometimes thwarted by his sister. Do you think Louise was afraid of his way of life? His freedom? Was she
afraid it might encourage Julie to take dangerous chances? What is Louise afraid of?
- The way we see people is not always as they really are, whether it be by their choice, our choice, or just circumstances.
How did perception play a part in the estrangement between Lucky and Julie?
- Alex had a very stark, violent, and traumatic childhood. What part do you think his loyalty to Lucky plays in his desire to
help children? Do you think he can be a good therapist and a good friend, or is his past bound to trip him up somewhere along
the way?
- Lucky says that from the first time he saw Alex and Julie together as children he knew they were made for each other. What
made him think this? What strengths and weaknesses might Julie and Alex share that help to make the other whole?
- Marie has a somewhat vague past. As a writer I found her interesting because of that. We meet so many people in daily life
and have no idea what they might have done with their lives, how they adapt to changes. Marie doesn’t want to be dragged back
into the past, but she agrees. Why do you think she was willing to be a part of the operation? Do you think it will change
her life going forward, or her relationship with Lucky?
- Do you think Julie will find fulfillment in a different way of teaching? Or will she return to the classroom, bringing something
more to her students than she understood before? Is one choice better than the other for Julie?