Fates and Furies Discussion Guide: Home
Lauren Groff
Photo courtesy of the author's website.
Articles, Interviews, and Reviews
- Interview with Lauren Groff - 2015 National Book Award Finalist, FictionNational Book Foundation, 2015
- Lauren Groff’s ‘Fates and Furies’New York Times Sunday Book Review, By Robin Black, September 8, 2015
- A Safe Place and a Straitjacket: An Interview With Lauren GroffBy Jia Tolentino, Gawker, September 23, 2015
- Lauren Groff Used 'Fates And Furies' To Bring 'Feminine Rage' Into LightNPR, October 27, 2015
- Why Fates and Furies was this year’s most talked-about novelBy Laura Miller, The Guardian, December 24, 2015
Other Books by Lauren Groff
The Monsters of Templeton by ISBN: 9781401322250Publication Date: 2008-02-01A novel spanning two centuries: part a contemporary story of a girl's search for her father, part historical novel, and part ghost story.
Arcadia by ISBN: 9781401340872Publication Date: 2012-03-13In the fields of western New York State in the 1970s, a few dozen idealists set out to live off the land, founding what would become a commune centered on the grounds of a decaying mansion called Arcadia House. Arcadia follows this romantic, rollicking, and tragic utopian dream from its hopeful start through its heyday and after.
Videos about Fates and Furies
Discussion Questions
1. Fates and Furies is told in halves. Why do you think the author chose to narrate the story this way? How did the split storytelling affect your reading of the book? Might it be symbolic of the characters’ inner lives?
2. Consider Mathilde’s final decision—to keep her past a secret for so many years. Do you think she should have told Lotto the truth? Think about whether this lie was truly for the best; could they have been happy if Mathilde had told him everything? Why do you think she kept this information to herself?
3. How did the inclusion of Lotto’s writing affect your reading experience? Did Lotto’s plays help you to understand his character?
4. Discuss the way the author presents Lotto’s writing talent. Mathilde has a significant hand in his success, but she is never recognized for it. Should she have taken the credit? Discuss the effect of stardom on Lotto’s understanding of himself and his marriage.
5. Fates and Furies questions male vs. female perceptions of reality. Think about how the author approaches the notion of feminine anger. Mathilde is an incredibly angry character; do the men in her life allow for this anger? Why or why not? Do you think Lotto is a misogynist? And how does your vision of Lotto’s world change after hearing Mathilde’s side of the story?
6. Mathilde’s relationship with Ariel is abusive. What does Ariel’s presence in the story say about Mathilde’s natural impulse toward revenge? Where is her reaction to her experience with Ariel directed at other characters?
7. Think about setting. As the characters grow, they find themselves in ever-changing spaces. How does each setting compel their actions and, eventually, their relationships? Specifically, discuss Mathilde’s life in France, Lotto’s childhood in Florida, and how these geographical differences affect their union in New York.
8. Fates and Furies spans a long period of time. Chronologically, the plot is very complex, though there is a central focus on Lotto and Mathilde. . How do Lotto and Mathilde change over the years, together and apart? Do you think they had a happy marriage?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
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Recommended Reading
We Could Be Beautiful by ISBN: 9780385540599Publication Date: 2016-06-28A spellbinding psychological debut novel, Swan Huntley's We Could Be Beautiful is the story of a wealthy woman who has everything--and yet can trust no one.
Days of Awe by ISBN: 9780307268129Publication Date: 2015-08-04Days of Awe is the story of a woman who, in the wake of her best friend's sudden death, must face the crisis in her marriage, the fury of her almost-teenage daughter, and the possibility of opening her cantankerous heart to someone new.
We Are Water by ISBN: 9780061941023Publication Date: 2013-10-22In middle age, Annie Oh--wife, mother, and outsider artist--has shaken her family to its core. After twenty-seven years of marriage and three children, Annie has fallen in love with Viveca, the wealthy, cultured, confident Manhattan art dealer who orchestrated her professional success. Annie and Viveca plan to wed in the Oh family's hometown of Three Rivers, Connecticut, where gay marriage has recently been legalized. But the impending wedding provokes some very mixed reactions and opens a Pandora's box of toxic secrets--dark and painful truths that have festered below the surface of the Ohs' lives.
