Heart the Lover Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Searching for Sir Hincomb Funnibuster and our BookBrowse Review of Heart the Lover.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

Reading guide by Gwyneth Henke courtesy of the publisher.

1. For most of the novel, the narrator goes by a nickname given to her by Sam and Yash—"Jordan," after the character from The Great Gatsby. Later, Yash and Jordan call each other "Hink," and Yash affectionately calls Sam's children "tadpoles" and Marni's daughters "the pigeons." How do nicknames create—or deflect—intimacy throughout the book? Is Jordan a good name for the narrator?
2. How does gender shape Jordan's education compared to Yash's and Sam's? Consider especially their relationships to their professors.
3. Jordan essentially moves into the Breach House with Sam and Yash for her senior year. She is enamored with not only the boys but their lifestyle—one dominated by reading, play, and intellectual debate. What makes the Breach House so special to Jordan? What does it teach her about herself? Have you ever created a sense of home like that?

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