Naomi Alderman: The Lessons – A Reading Guide Summer Reads 2010

1. Dogs are mentioned several times in the novel. Isabella carries a dog in her bag, Franny asks if Mark knows that a dog is for life, not just for Christmas, Mark calls James Jess' dog. What do you think the significance of the dog and dog metaphors are?

2. Early in the novel, Mark is writing an essay entitled "A God who does not suffer cannot save: Discuss." Can one person save another? Is suffering a necessary part of this? Could Jess save James? Can James save Mark? How about Mark and Leo?

3. Why do you think Jess wanted to be in a relationship with James?

4. "People change. Our tastes develop. I used to like sleeping with boys and now I like sleeping with Nicola. My tastes have changed, that's all." What do you think? Is this how sexuality works? Can it be?

5. The Cavafy poem which opens the novel talks about "longings that have passed without being satisfied". In the novel, is it better to have desires satisfied or unsatisfied? How about in life?

6. "Beauty is a lie, but it is so hard to spot." Does James love Mark and Oxford mostly because they are beautiful? Do people love James because *he* is beautiful?

7. "I wanted to be a child again... to be taken up into greater arms than mine and not need to think. Was it then that the music struck up? Or was it that I only noticed it then? ... all the memory of Christmas carol services leapt upon my heart... I limped into the chapel.... I saw that I had sat down next to that girl, the friend of Emmanuella's, the girl who always seemed to be wearing a red sweater." Is there a God acting in this novel?

8. Is Jess James' consolation prize? Is James Mark's?

9. Why does Nicola marry Mark? Why doesn't Franny marry Simon?

10. "Doesn't everyone want this? To stay together with their university friends forever?" If none of us ever had to make money, would we want this forever?

The Lessons by Naomi Alderman is published by Viking, priced £12.99.