Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg

1. George Sand felt she was abandoned by her mother. Did being left with her grandmother at an early age make her stronger or weaker? In what ways would George's life have been different if her father had lived?
2. George behaved boldly but was at heart very shy. Did you notice any other paradoxes in her character and life?
3. Two very different environments were important to George's life and work: the city of Paris and her country home at Nohant. Which do you think was more important to her? What did each offer her?
4. How do you think George's marriage affected her art? Do you think genetics or life circumstances contribute more strongly to the making of an artist?
5. George fluidly assumed both male and female roles. She often referred to herself as a man, yet Alfred de Musset called her the most feminine woman he had ever known. What was your perception of George?
6. The mother--daughter relationships depicted in The Dream Lover are particularly complex. Do you think Sophie was a "bad" mother? What about George herself?
7. What do you think George needed most from a relationship? How is that different from what she believed she needed?
8. George described herself as "very impressionable, carried away by my love of beauty, hungry for truth, faulty in judgment, often absurd, and always sincere." Do you agree?
9. In her quest to live truthfully, George left her husband altogether and was away from her children much of the time. How do you feel about that? Was she motivated by necessity or selfishness?
10. George quickly became maternal with her male lovers. She said at one point that it was so they would become dependent on her and not leave her. What do you think of this statement?
11. One of the great sorrows in George's life was her contentious relationship with her daughter. What might have improved her relationship with Solange?
12. The Dream Lover suggests that Marie Dorval was the great love of George's life. How do you feel about Marie's assertion that one seeks not the object of one's desire, but desire itself? Could George have accepted anything but continuous passion in a relationship?
13. Nature and spirituality were important constants in George's life. What were the sources of these affinities? How did they play out in her work and in her life? How did they affect her worldview? If she had been allowed to become a nun, do you think she would have stayed one?
14. Some people say that the hardest sorrow to bear is the idea of what might have been. What do you think?
15. Did you learn anything surprising about George's famous friends, such as Chopin, Flaubert, Balzac, and Liszt?
16. At the end of the novel, George is quoted as saying in a letter to Delacroix that nothing dies, nothing is lost, and nothing ends. What sentiments or experiences do you think fueled that remark? How do you interpret it?
17. Do you think that George and the things she wrote about are still relevant more than 150 years later?
18. The Dream Lover invites us into the world of salons. Do you think that book clubs are the same kind of enriching, stimulating environment? Why do we need book clubs? What do they offer our spirits and psyches that reading alone does not? How can they be expanded to provide an even deeper experience?

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