Our discussion questions
1. This novel has been described as a celebration of old-age, where old people are enjoying life, forming relationships and having great sex. Living, as we do, in a culture that values youth and beauty, did you find this aspect of the story refreshing? Confronting? Realistic / unrealistic? Other?
2. The characters in Lily Brett’s life share a number of similarities with those in Lily’s own life, although she maintains that the book is not autobiographical. Does it matter whether the story is autobiographical or not? What responsibilities do authors have to ensure that their works of fiction are completely fictional? (similarities…Lily Brett’s parents are survivors of the Holocaust, she has a close relationship with her father, her husband is an Australian painter, she has 2 daughters and a son who is a doctor, she currently lives in New York, she has a journalistic background.)
3. The Holocaust serves as a backdrop in each of Brett’s novels. Discuss. (Obviously, I couldn’t quite think of a question here…)
4. Ruth is trying to set up a group of women who will support each other. Brett says (in “New York”) that “A myth has developed about women’s closeness, women’s bonds, women’s friendships, and it has covered up our hostility to each other, and our mean-spiritedness. Women will be supportive to each other in certain situations. We will commiserate over a miserable love affair. We’ll be sympathetic about illness and other ailments. We’ll swap child-rearing tips and diet aids. But we won’t share anything that might help to put another female ahead of us….Men don’t act this way. Men understand that it is in their own interests to help other men. Even if they hate them.” Do you agree? Why do you think Ruth couldn’t get the support group off the ground. (Perhaps consider the media reaction when Julia Goddard was touted as a possibility for leader of the Labor party).
5. Ruth is a worrier. She tells Max (her assistant) that she never ‘mastered the category of concern. She had always slipped straight into worry.’ In an interview, Lily Brett quotes one of her favourite Jewish jokes “Start worrying – details to follow”. Do you find this characteristic endearing or irritating in the novel? Do you find it an endearing or irritating characteristic in people you know? Are you a worrier?
6. Each of the characters in this novel has a different relationship with food. Ruth is concerned about her weight, and takes her own steamed vegetables to a restaurant. Edek appears to have an insatiable appetite and is always comparing a meal to that cooked by his Rooshka. Zofia is the robust and capable cook. Ruth thinks that her friend Sonia (an Australian) is one of the few women in New York without an eating disorder. Lily Brett was an overweight child pushed into diets by her slim, beautiful mother. Does our relationship with food (what we eat, when we eat, whether or not we cook, whether or not we diet) form part of who we are (or vice versa?). As a society, have we become obsessed with food? If so, why?
7. Who was your favourite character and why?
8. Ruth Rothwax has a successful letter writing business and is branching out into greeting cards. Do you think a letter writing business could be successful in Australia? Would you buy one of her greeting cards? After the condolence letter where the names of the late dog and his owner are mixed up, the owner thanks Ruth for the sentiments expressed in the letter, rather than the client who requested the letter. Should the client have written his own letter?
9. Brett is quite frank in her discussions about sex in the novel; however, in her own life she says that it isn’t something she usually discusses with friends and admits to blushing when the topic is raised. Why do you think she feels more able to broach the topic in a book that will be read by thousands of people, than she is with a few friends (who could read the book anyway)?
10. Did anyone try the recipes at the back of the book? Does anyone ever try recipes written in a novel?
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