1. Both Kristin and Angela lost their mothers at a young age. How did each of them deal with those losses?
  2. Mary Louise isn’t surprised when Kristin asks her for money after their night of bonding, thinking, “However many Kristins there were fluttering around like moths inside that blond, blue-eyed glass, one of them, the biggest, was always and indelibly Kristin Carson”(page 36) (part I). How much of Kristin do you think is genuine and how much is an act? Are there other characters who shift between different personas the way Kristin does?
  3. Angela and Antonio finally came together after they’d each experienced a painful loss. How do you think this impacted their relationship?
  4. On page 341 In part IV, the author writes, “It was a myth, that love encompassed everything…Like everything struggling to survive, love was selfish, and narrow, and fanatical.” What does she mean by this? What do you think of this view of love?
  5. Enzo’s mother says that many young people “thought they’d been betrayed—been promised a better life, then had it snatched away” (page 118) (part I) and that this outrage led to the formation of the Red Brigades. What led Antonio to join the BR? Do you think he was motivated by that same sense of betrayal?
  6. When she goes to the police station to confess, Angela tells the officer that she killed Aldo Moro(page 399) (part IV). Though she didn’t pull the trigger herself, is Angela responsible for Aldo Moro’s death? Why do you think she didn’t go to the police sooner?
  7. Antonio went to great lengths to lure Angela back to Italy. Do you think his desire to see her again was fueled by vengeance or by love? Explain.
  8. After Antonio’s death, we learn that Barbara was the one who let him know that Angela was still alive. When Pallioti asks her why, Barbara says she “thought Angie would have wanted [her] to” (page 449) (epilogue). Do you believe that Angela would have wanted Antonio to know that she was all right? Is Barbara to blame for the events that followed?
  9. When Pallioti puts in his resignation, he says, “When we become Judge and Executioner, there is no difference between Them and Us”(page 459)(epilogue). Do you agree? Were you surprised by his decision?
  10. Just as Antonio hid so much of his life from Angela during their relationship, Anna kept her true identity a secret from her husband. How much of their dishonesty was justified in each of these cases? Do you feel that we are required to be completely honest with those we love?