A Certain Age Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Jazz Age: A Quick Tour and our BookBrowse Review of A Certain Age.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. By the tone of the first few pages, did you get the sense that A Certain Age was set during the period between World War I and World War II? Why or why not? How does the author set the stage for the era when describing the Roaring Twenties in New York City?
2. Soon after she's married to the most eligible bachelor in New York, Theresa discovers he keeps a mistress and has done so for most of their courtship. Still, she puts up with his philandering, bears him three children, and takes a lover of her own, until he asks for a divorce. It's clear she wonders if that was the "right" choice. Given what you know about Theresa's character at the beginning of the novel, do you think she followed the best path? How about at the end of the novel?
3. At the beginning of the novel, Boyo is beautiful and alluring because he can't have what he most wants: Theresa. Theresa loves Boyo but knows she's not who Boyo thinks she is --- she's twice his age and (at that point) married to a man with a mistress. Isn't the point of an affair to get close to a feeling you can't quite possess? Is it possible for an affair to work if both parties have nothing to lose?

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