Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for The Love We Found by Jill Santopolo

1. Have you ever felt intrinsically connected to someone, like Lucy felt with Gabe?
2. Have you ever kept a secret, small or large, from most of your friends and family? If so, how did it impact those relationships? Is there anything that would make you reveal the truth?
3. Eva is such an important confidant to Lucy, and the catalyst to her traveling to Italy learn more about the address she finds among Gabe's things. Is there anyone in your own life that you share this type of close, influential bond with?
4. What was your favorite scene, and why?
5. How did you feel about Darren's behavior as it related to Lucy's secret? How might you react in his position?
6. Meeting Bashir and his family is such a special moment, as Lucy gets a little piece of Gabe back from that interaction. If you have experienced loss, in what ways have the stories and experiences of other people brought a memory back to life?
7. Do you agree with Lucy's choice to keep Samuel's parentage a secret? Do you agree with her choice to reveal it when and how she does? Why or why not?
8. The connection between Lucy and Gabe always seems to come back to Shakespeare in some way, perhaps because they first met in a Shakespeare seminar in college. What is it about literature that is both so binding and lasting?
9. Have you ever made a choice that went against your typical decision making, like Lucy did in attempting to open her heart to Dax? What did that choice look like for you, and in what ways do you think it changed your outcome?
10. What did you think of the ending? Are there any questions you wish you had the answers to?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of G.P. Putnam's Sons. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.