1. Is infidelity in marriage fixable? Is it forgivable? In Sophie Bloom’s case, do you think she had any other choice but to flee?
2. Can young love be sustained in the long-haul of marriage? Both Sophie and Gabe’s and Nathalie and Luc’s marriages evolve into a “just press play” relationship, they love and care for each other, but passions have died. Once that flame is extinguished, do you think it can ever truly be reignited?
3. What does “girl code” mean to you? Why do you think is it so important to women?
4. Sophie and her teen daughter Ava have a strong bond and when they are both betrayed, Sophie drops her own pain to be there for her daughter. If you have children, how do you balance being a woman and being a mother?
5. Part of Ava’s journey is discovering the importance of her mother’s own needs and recognizing that their bond is no longer give/take but give and take. For daughters looking to their mothers: are you able to see her desires as a woman, or only her role as “Mom”?
6. Sophie and Ava each have their own forbidden relationship. In what ways do these relationships contribute to their personal growth?
7. Luc remains faithful to a disloyal, albeit sick, wife but emotional infidelity can be more harmful than physical infidelity. Do your feelings about Sophie change as she begins to develop deep feelings for Luc, Nathalie’s husband?
8. When Gabe realizes how much he has lost after betraying Sophie, he wants her back. But for the first time in her life, she decides to put herself first—over her husband’s needs and her daughter’s desires. Why do you think it’s difficult for women and mothers to put themselves first?
9. Sophie tells her daughter: “Love is messy…I don’t think I ever really understood that until now. But no matter what, even if life hurts like hell, sometimes you just have to pick yourself up and build again.” Describe the ways in which Sophie Bloom has reinvented herself. In what ways does Ava follow (or not follow) in her mother’s footsteps?
10. They say that at the end of a relationship, we go through the Five Stages of Grief but Sophie instead opts for “Denial 101”. Do you think a person can skip over grief? Or must one go through the requisite stages to come out the other side?
11. The theme of “closure” threads throughout the novel. In what ways does Sophie give closure to each of her relationships, while opening the door to her passions?