Something to Talk About

SOMETHINGTO TALK ABOUT by Meryl Wilsner
Questions for Discussion
Reader's Guide


1. What effect did the rumors have on Jo and Emma’s relationship? Do you think they would have developed feelings, or recognized those feelings, had the rumors never existed?

2. Jo was worried about taking advantage of Emma. Why is this? How did she ensure the power imbalance from their working relationship didn’t make their personal relationship unhealthy?

3. How does the book portray sibling relationships? Compare and contrast Jo’s relationship with Vincent and Emma’s relationship with Avery.

4. What trade-offs do Jo and Emma have to consider when deciding to be in a relationship? How might their reputations and careers suffer? Do you think it’s worth it?

5. Why wasn’t Jo publicly out? What factors affected this decision?

6. Discuss Jo’s relationship with her father and how it affects her and her decisions.

7. Tikkun olam is a Jewish concept regarding an individual’s duty to improve or repair the world around them. How does tikkun olam influence Emma’s behavior throughout the book, but especially in response to Barry Davis?

8. Why might Annabeth Pierce not have come forward about Barry Davis’s behavior earlier? What factors affected her decisions, both to stay quiet, and to eventually come forward?

9. Why did the suits at the network suggest Jo be seen out with a man? How might they have reacted differently if the rumors involved Jo and a man instead of another woman?