Discussion Questions
For The Book Club for Troublesome Women, 2026 Everybody Reads with Marie Bostwick
1.
How do you feel about the 1960s with regard to women’s and men’s roles in our society after reading this book? How might the narrative have been different if set in a different place in the country, not a new housing development, and how might it have been the same? In a different social class?
2.
What descriptive language or word choice helped you to visualize the era of the 1960s? How has that language or word choice changed over time?
3.
Of the women in the story, who did you want to be friends with and who did you dislike or wish would have behaved differently? How was the “community” they created beneficial? Were there aspects that weren’t beneficial?
4.
What role does reading and writing play in the book as a means of changing society’s views or reinforcing them? How is this the same or different today?
5.
Having a fulfilling career, a happy family life, a romantic relationship and a well-balanced personal life are generally what are referred to as “having it all”. Is it reasonable to think women can achieve this? Can men? How have expectations changed?
6.
Each friend contributes to the development of the coffee shop. How does this relate to the statement “what flames could not consume, never shall be extinguished” on the new menu sign?
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