1. Do you feel that the relationships between Finn and Joe, Claire and Joe, and Claire and Finn are in some ways enriched by the triangle that exists among them? Do you believe that they would relate to one another as passionately if one of them were eliminated from the triangle?

2. Do you think there is a way the plan that Claire, Joe, and Finn devised could have worked? How could they have handled things differently, and would those approaches have worked better or worse?

3. Claire enjoyed expressing androgyny; in her childhood street performances, she frequently switched from playing a girl’s role to portraying a boy, and she even makes this switch occasionally as an adult. Do you think this has any significance to the beautiful woman she becomes?

4. How do you think Claire’s childhood affected her passionate relationships with Finn and Joe? Do you think being left to fend for herself as a child had a major influence on the way she related to the two men? In what way?

5. Was Finn completely aware of Claire’s love for Joe when he came up with his plan? If not, do you think he would have proposed the triangle as a solution for his love?

6. Was it wise for Joe to go away to Boston? Do you think his relationship with Finn could have survived if Joe had acted upon his intense feelings for Claire? Why do you think Joe was the one who needed to deny his love?

7. Why, in your opinion, is Claire such a natural at photography? Is it simply a hereditary talent, since three generations before her had been photographers? Or does it take her outside of herself? Does it involve her in the world around her in some way that she is seeking?

8. From the moment Claire goes to Eugene’s cabin, the two fall into a meaningful conversation. Why does Claire strike up such a deep relationship with Eugene so immediately? Do you think she identifies with him as a father figure? Or does she relate to him as a platonic male friend, someone existing outside the confusion of her relationships with Finn and Joe and with whom she can feel comfortable?

9. Claire, Finn, and Joe all make a living relating to the world through media—Finn through the paper, Claire through her photography, and Joe through his stories. How do you think that reflects on them as individuals? Do you think it has any bearing on how they relate to one another?

10. Why do you think the story is told from Joely’s perspective? What are the advantages the filter of her vision gives the relationships among Claire, Finn, and Joe? What part does she play in their triangle?

11. How does Joely’s birth affect the three adults? Why do you think Claire and Finn felt that having a baby would solve the imbalances among the three of them? And why does it actually do this, temporarily?

12. Early on in the book Joely questions whether “love is genetic, transmitted prenatally.” Do you think her love for Joe is entirely based on her mother’s love for Joe? In what ways do you think her mother’s stories about Joe and Finn shape Joely’s feelings for Joe?

13. What is it about Joe’s relationship with Claire that leads him to be attracted to Joely? Do you think the fact that she is Claire’s daughter is the only reason he is attracted to her?

14. In what way did Finn and Claire’s deaths affect Joely’s feelings about them? How did their deaths affect her feelings toward Joe, and how did Joe and Joely’s relationship change?

15. How do you think things might have worked out for the four characters if Claire and Finn hadn’t been in the wreck? Do you think Finn ever would have agreed to give Claire a divorce? Do you think there ever would have been any waning in Claire’s passion for Joe?

16. Do you think that the arrangement among Claire, Joe, and Finn ultimately brought happiness to any of them? What about to Joely?