Love and Other Impossible Pursuits Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Ayelet Waldman and our BookBrowse Review of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

For Emilia Greenleaf, life is by turns a comedy of errors and an emotional mine field. Yes, she's a Harvard Law grad who married her soul mate. Yes, they live in upper-class comfort on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. But with her one-and-only, Jack, came a stepson—a know-it-all preschooler named William whose greatest pleasure seems to lie in torturing Emilia. Because of William, Emilia has learned about a number of impossible pursuits, such as the pursuit of cab drivers who speed away when they see William's industrial-strength car seat, and the pursuit of lactose-free, strawberry-flavored, patisserie-quality cupcakes, even though William's "allergy" is a figment of his over-protective mother's imagination. William is a reminder of another, more poignant pursuit: Emilia's struggle to ease her grief—and guilt—after the death of her newborn daughter.

With wry candor and tender humor, acclaimed novelist Ayelet Waldman has crafted a powerhouse novel for our time, rousing us to cheer Emilia on as she tackles the absurdities of modern life and discovers what family really means. Brimming with discussion topics–about being in love, being a parent, being a child, and simply being alive in the real world—Love and Other Impossible Pursuits is a memorable choice for reading groups. Whether you're exploring the book with friends or on your own, we hope that the following questions will enhance your experience of this magnificent tour of the heart.



Discussion Questions

1. What were your initial impressions of Emilia? In what way did your image of her change as you learned more about her? As she narrates, is she always honest with us and with herself? How does she balance humor and intensity when describing what it's like to be a woman on the edge?
2. Discuss the many forms of love described in the novel. Is love ever a truly impossible pursuit? What factors make it seem that way to Emilia?
3. How does Emilia cope with being a pariah among the other preschool parents? What are the criteria within this community for determining whether a woman is a "good mother"? What purpose does their competitive attitude serve? What does Sonia seem to think about the culture of American mommyhood?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Anchor Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.