Looking for a Love Story (36 page)
Read Looking for a Love Story Online
Authors: Louise Shaffer
Tags: #Fiction, #Contemporary Women, #Family Life, #Sagas, #General
J
OSHUA:
That depends on who you’re talking to.
C
HARLIE:
We were happy with it.
J
OSHUA:
It was all a part of the learning process.
C
HARLIE:
For Mommy.
RHRC: That brings me to an interesting point. The whole dog-mankind relationship. Would you guys care to speak on that a little?
J
OSHUA:
Okay, here’s the thing people need to know about any dog’s relationship to his humans. These creatures—these humans—who have no sense of smell—
C
HARLIE:
—and lousy hearing—
J
OSHUA:
—and absolutely no understanding of how the universe works, come into our lives.
C
HARLIE:
The poor things don’t know enough to drop whatever they’re doing on a beautiful day, and go outside to sniff the sunshine.
J
OSHUA:
They don’t know when it’s time to stop worrying about the bills or their work, and roll in the autumn leaves, or throw a ball for us to catch, or just sit quietly and pet us.
C
HARLIE:
They’re always worrying about what’s going to happen tomorrow.
J
OSHUA:
Or what happened yesterday.
C
HARLIE:
So it’s up to us, their dogs, to make them pay attention to today.
J
OSHUA:
Particularly if it’s a good day. They don’t seem to notice when things are going well.
C
HARLIE:
But they sure do complain when they aren’t.
J
OSHUA:
Teaching them to say “thank you” can be a challenge.
C
HARLIE:
They’re awfully stubborn.
J
OSHUA:
We just have to keep reminding ourselves that they aren’t the brightest species on the planet.
C
HARLIE:
When you think about it, all they’ve really got going for them is the opposable thumb. Which is great for opening food cans….
J
OSHUA:
But on a metaphysical level—not so much.
C
HARLIE:
Whatever that means.
J
OSHUA:
It means no matter how limited or flawed they are, we still love them.
C
HARLIE:
Well, duh, that’s in the Dog’s Credo. “Rule Number One: I swear to love my humans unconditionally.”
J
OSHUA:
Yeah. Somebody’s got to do it. (Turns to interviewer.) You need more?
RHRC: No, I think that does it. I’m going home to pet my dog.
C
HARLIE:
A suggestion? Give him some steak.
J
OSHUA:
He’ll really appreciate that.
Questions and Topics for Discussion
1. Have you ever fallen in love with someone who didn’t know the real you? Is it possible to be happy in that kind of relationship?
2. When Jake and Francesca finally have the Talk, she insists that she’s not the one that wants out of the relationship, and he replies, “Yes, you do. You just don’t know it yet.” Is Jake right? At what point does Francesca realize that she’s better off without him? Have you ever been devastated by the loss of something you didn’t actually want?
3. What about Jake (“Shallow Guy”) was so appealing to Francesca in the beginning of their relationship? What did he offer her?
4. How do Francesca’s mother and father differ as parents? Sheryl?
5. Were you surprised at the friendship that blossoms between Alexandra and Sheryl? What do the two women have in common that brings them together?
6. Before the drink-throwing incident, Andy suggests that Francesca “look like a winner,” even if she feels like a loser. Jake crows that “it’s all about appearances … to hell with the real you.” Do you believe that it’s possible to “fake it ’til you make it”? Is future success more likely if you look the part?
7. How do Francesca’s life lessons evolve throughout the novel? Can you plot her development through her favorite sayings?
8. Why does Francesca connect with Joe and Ellie’s story so strongly? What shatters her writer’s block?
9. When do you think Ellie finally falls in love with Joe? Can marriages that aren’t grounded in love be successful?
10. What about Joe and Ellie’s story mirrors Francesca’s own?
11. Would you rather have a passionate love affair with someone unreliable, or a comfortable partnership with a friend you could trust with your entire being?
12. Francesca found a love story in Joe and Ellie. What kind of love story is she making for herself? Must a love story be about romantic love? How else can we star in our own love stories?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
L
OUISE
S
HAFFER
is the author of
Serendipity, The Three Miss Margarets, The Ladies of Garrison Gardens
, and
Family Acts
. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, she has written for television and has appeared on Broadway, in TV movies, and in daytime dramas, earning an Emmy for her work on
Ryan’s Hope
. Shaffer and her husband live in the Lower Hudson Valley with several beloved rescue dogs.
www.louiseshaffer.com
Looking for a Love Story
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Original
Copyright © 2010 by Louise Shaffer
Reading group guide copyright © 2010 by Random House, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
RANDOM HOUSE READER’S CIRCLE & Design is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Shaffer, Louise.
Looking for a love story : a novel / Louise Shaffer.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-345-52177-4
1. Women authors—Fiction. 2. Intergenerational relations—Fiction. 3.
Self-realization in women—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3569.H3112L66 2010 813′.54—dc22 2010001578
www.randomhousereaderscircle.com
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