The Seine Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Seine and our BookBrowse Review of The Seine.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Elaine Sciolino opens the book with her decision to move to Paris, a time in her life that was filled with heartbreak and uncertainty. As she writes, "I arrived with no sources, no lovers, no family, no friends, no mission except to start fresh in a city all the world loves" (p. 3). Would you ever leave behind all you know in search of happiness and healing? How did Sciolino, as a recently divorced young reporter, find herself and flourish so far from home?
2. The Seine River is always depicted as a woman. Why?
3. Sciolino becomes fascinated with the story of Sequana, a Gallo-Roman healing goddess who ruled over a temple at the sources of the Seine. In one version of the Sequana story, she escapes the clutches of the lascivious sea god Neptune. How might Sequana be seen as an early feminist role model?

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