The Paris Hours Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) and our BookBrowse Review of The Paris Hours.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

Welcome to the Reading Group Guide for The Paris Hours. Please note: In order to provide reading groups with the most informed and thought-provoking questions possible, it is necessary to reveal important aspects of the plot of this novel—as well as the ending. If you have not finished reading The Paris Hours, we respectfully suggest that you may want to wait before reviewing this guide.

1. Of the four interwoven storylines that comprise the novel—Souren's, Guillaume's, Jean-Paul's, and Camille's—did you have a favorite? If so, why?
2. Discuss the epigraph: "For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness." Do you agree? How does this novel carry out James Baldwin's directive?
3. Guillaume tells Suzanne that "any street or square in Paris would give the Folies-Bergère a run for its money." How does Paris itself become a character in this book? If you have spent time in Paris, did the portrait ring true? Were you surprised by any aspects of it?

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