Reading guide for All You Have to Do Is Call by Kerri Maher

Reading Guide Questions

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. The women of Jane have a very positive view of abortion. How does their view compare to views you've absorbed in your lifetime?
2. The marriage of Gabe and Siobhan is an "offstage" story, but if you had to describe what happened between them, what story would you tell based on what unfolds in the novel?
3. Patty changes her mind about a number of major issues in the course of the book. What are the moments that contribute to these changes? Have you ever changed your mind about a major issue or a person in your life?
4. Did these women's lives feel like they could unfold today?
5. What is the role of female friendship in the novel?
6. Veronica had a D&C after a miscarriage but has never had an abortion. Why, then, does she become the leader of an illegal abortion clinic? Why is she so passionate about continuing during her own pregnancy? Do you think you'd make the same choice?
7. Veronica has complicated feelings about having a second child. What are they, and can you relate?
8. Early in the novel, Margaret wonders if "perhaps love was antithetical to meaningful work." Do you think she would agree by the end of the novel? How have you balanced work and love/family in your life?
9. The Comprehensive Child Development Act was a bill that passed both the Senate (63–17) and the House (211–187), and was vetoed by President Nixon on December 9, 1971. Had it passed, it would have created, among other aids to families, a national day care system. What is the effect of that bill not passing on the families in this book? What's been the effect of it not passing on your life and the lives of the women you know?
10. The Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution would guarantee equal rights for all citizens in the US regardless of sex. It was first introduced in 1923 and was brought to Congress every year for forty-nine years until finally, in 1972, it was ratified by both houses and sent to the states for ratification. It took until 2020 for the required thirty-eight states to ratify it, and for some complex legal reasons, the Equal Rights Amendment remains in limbo. How would swifter passage of this amendment have changed the lives of the people in this novel? How would it have changed your life?
11. In this book the personal is incredibly political. In what way is the personal political for you in your own life?

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