A Pinch of Ooh La La (30 page)

1. What did you most enjoy about the novel? What will you remember about it long after you've finished reading it?

2. In the beginning, Samuel seems so perfect that Abbey wonders why he hasn't already been snatched up. Are you willing to share your own experience of a seemingly perfect man who turned out to be not so perfect after all?

3. What do you think of Abbey's untraditional extended family? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of living in such a family. Discuss in particular what Abbey gets from her family, and why she was willing to give up living with her mother on the East Coast in order to return to her father's family.

4. Early on, Abbey gets one “red flag” about Samuel, but she convinces herself that his good points outweigh the negative. By the time she realizes there are significant ways in which they are incompatible, he is practically living with her. Does she jump into the relationship too fast? Or must every woman struggle with the question of how much of herself she should give up for a man?

5. Abbey sees Samuel's father as an authoritarian figure who maintains control of his children through intimidation and abuse, yet Samuel defends him and credits his own success with his parents' insistence on discipline and achievement. How do you see Samuel's father? What do we learn about how Bendrix achieved success, compared to Samuel?

6. Bendrix is Abbey's best friend, and she comes close to saying that if he were straight, he'd be a perfect romantic partner for her. Do you agree? What do you think Bendrix and Abbey have together that she doesn't have with Avery and then Samuel?

7. Discuss the various couples who come to Abbey to discuss wedding cakes. It might be fun to imagine which ones will stay married and which will crash and burn.

8. After each failed romantic relationship, Abbey reassesses her life. Talk about what she learns, how she changes, and what about her life she comes to appreciate more fully.

9. For Abbey and Bendrix, tagging buildings (i.e., spraying graffiti art on them) is an act of joyous creativity as much as civil disobedience. Is some of their creativity inspired by the awareness that they're breaking the law? Does their punishment fit the crime? Did you find Abbey's arrest and community service at all funny, or were you disappointed in her?

10. The death of an important character spurs Abbey to take action. Discuss these events, and especially what motivates her.

11. At the end of the novel, Abbey seems to be headed for happiness, but the author doesn't take her all the way there. Did you find that approach
satisfying?