Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan

1. Do you find Ava a sympathetic character? At the beginning… by the end?
2. Author Naoise Dolan said in an NPR interview that Ava is a "somewhat repressed," young woman, who uses "dark humor as a coping device." What are some of the examples of her humor? Are there other coping mechanisms she uses?
3. In the same NPR interview, Dolan also says that Ava is much better at thinking analytically about "things" than she is at understanding her own, or others', emotions. Talk about how this tendency makes Ava an unreliable narrator.
4. How would you describe Ava and Julian's relationship? What, for instance, does Julian mean by this passage: "To be clear Ava: we're both dead behind the eyes, at least I can pay rent." And Ava thinks about Julian: "He doesn't want anyone to like him just for him" because he "wouldn't know what to do with the information." What do these statements and others reveal about the two of them—individually and as a couple?
5. What is your opinion of Edith? Were you frustrated by Ava's inability to commit?
6. The title of the book comes from Ava, who says, "We agree it was an exciting time to be alive." Is Ava being sarcastic? What is behind that comment, and why might Dolan have chosen it for the novel's title?
7. Talk about the role of class in this story. How do wealth and privilege, or their lack, evidence themselves?

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