Private Life Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

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Private Life by Jane Smiley

Private Life

by Jane Smiley
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  • First Published:
  • May 4, 2010, 336 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jun 2011, 336 pages
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Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Dorothea and Casaubon, literature's most famous miserable academic couple and our BookBrowse Review of Private Life.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

About This Guide

The questions, discussion topics, and reading list that follow are intended to enhance your reading group's discussion of Private Life, a riveting new novel from Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley that traverses the intimate landscape of one woman's life, from the 1880s to World War II.
Reader's Guide

  1. How would you describe this novel in one sentence?
  2. Smiley's epigraph for the book is a quote from Rose Wilder Lane. Why do you think she chose this particular line?
  3. What is the purpose of the prologue? How did it color your interpretation of what followed?
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  1. How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
  2. What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
  3. Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?


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.

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Reviews

Beyond the Book:
  Dorothea and Casaubon, literature's most famous miserable academic couple

Read-Alikes

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