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1. Hannah opens the novel needing to find a sense of home, and a
renewed, stronger sense of self. Does she find both of these things by
the novel’s conclusion? Are they different in each ending, or more or
less the same?
2. Hannah has a complicated and somewhat distant relationship with her
family after they move to London. Hannah’s dad admits, "Your mother and
I realized we had made a huge mistake not bringing you with us. We never
should have let you stay in Los Angeles. Never should have left you"
(page 125). What do you think about this statement? What does Hannah’s
reaction to this confession indicate to you?
3. Why do you think Gabby makes such an effort to spell out her
feminism?
4. There are some choices that Hannah faces in both of her stories. Can
you identify these? Discuss whether her ultimate decisions differ or are
the same in each plot thread. What is their significance?
5. Turn to p. 194 and reread the conversation Hannah has with Ethan from
her hospital bed. What do you make of her statement, "Whatever would
have happened wasn’t supposed to happen" (page 165)? Do you agree
with Hannah that believing we’re all destined for something makes it
easier to bear the harder moments?
6. Hannah says, "I’m starting to think maybe you just pick a place and
stay there. You pick a career and do it. You pick a person and commit to
him" (page 210). Is this idea—that sometimes, you just have to make a
decision and stick with it—mutually exclusive with any notion of fate or
destiny?
7. Reread Gabby and Hannah’s conversation about soul mates (pages
208–210). Do you agree with Hannah when she says that sometimes you can
just tell about a person? Have you ever had a person about whom
you felt you could just tell?
8. While on the surface, the novel may seem to focus on which man Hannah
will end up with, there are several types of love explored in Maybe
in Another Life. Discuss these as a group. Which of the many
relationships depicted was your favorite? How did they change and grow
in each storyline?
9. Mark tries to defend his decision to leave Gabby by saying, "I didn’t
mean for it to happen. But when you have that kind of connection with
someone, nothing can stand in its way" (page 273). What do you think
about this? Do you agree with Hannah’s belief that "your actions in love
are not an exception to who you are. They are in fact the very
definition of who you are" (page 274)? How does this jibe with the idea
that sometimes you can just tell someone is right for you?
10. Did you believe in fate when you started the novel? Did the novel
change, challenge, or uphold your opinion?
11. Certainly some of the characters, including Hannah at times, believe
in fate. Do you think the book itself suggests that fate exists? What
about soul mates?
12. Did you find yourself rooting for one ending versus the other? Do
you have an opinion on whether Hannah should have ended up with Henry or
with Ethan? If you were Hannah, which ending would you have wanted for
yourself?
13. Think about the statement that Jesse makes at the end of the novel:
"Everything that is possible happens" (page 330). If that’s true, what
do other versions of your life look like?
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