Ana Turns

A kaleidoscopic story, unspooling over the twenty-four hours of a very contemporary woman's sixtieth birthday.

Nine years have passed since Ana Koehl had sex with her pot-addicted anesthesiologist husband, seven since she began an affair with a gonzo journalist. She's gratified by her work as a book doula, but burdened by her belief that she need always be on call. Her elderly mother's birthday greeting is an inflation-adjusted calculation of the cost of raising Ana in a mice-infested house, her brother has hijacked the will of their recently deceased starchitect father, her adult child is changing rapidly before her eyes, and her best friend advocates for "the truth in lies." Gazing out at the dark moat of Central Park from behind her desk, Ana sees that she can no longer postpone making peace with her past or confronting her present.

Narrated by Ana and the key figures in her life--her husband, her brother, her lover's wife, to name a few--Ana Turns spirals through issues from capital punishment to the dynamiting of the Bamiyan Buddhas, culminating in a watershed dinner party, with Ana's family members' true colors on full display. By day's end, the bounds of her own collaboration and forgiveness illuminated, Ana turns towards a vision of what she wants next in this blink of a life.

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Turner Publishing

Book club questions for Ana Turns by Lisa Gornick

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

How would you describe Ana’s relationship with her mother, Jean? Did you feel any empathy for Jean?

Ana thinks of herself as a “psychological editor.” What does she mean by this? How does this apply to her work with Bettina?

Henry does not tell Ana the story he learns from her father about the family’s history during World War II because he thinks it would be a breach of physician ethics. Do you think he makes the right decision?

How is Ana’s teenaged friendship with LuAnn similar and different from her friendship with Fiona?

Do you think the title captures something central about the book? Did you notice the allusion in the cover illustration to the title: that when the book is turned, the image is identical?

How do you understand Ana’s marriage and her affair with Lance? What do you imagine will happen in the next year for Ana, Henry, Lance, and Alice?

Simon is in the process of transitioning to Simona. How are Ana and Henry handling this?

Fiona tells Ana that George is not really a brother– an idea that Ana later in the book rejects. What is the nature of this sibling relationship?

The novel shifts into five other points of view that Ana’s: her husband, her father, her brother, her lover, and her lover’s wife. How did this enrich the themes of the book? Do you think the novel could have worked only through Ana’s eyes?

Ana Turns includes true news stories from the news at that time. Why do you think the author included the story of Kayla Greenwood’s plea to the governor of Arkansas that the execution of Kenneth Williams –the man who killed her father– be stayed?

The interview with Mullah Mohammed Omar about his decision to dynamite the Bamiyan Buddhas is also a true story. What does Lance intend by showing Ana the interview?

If you could ask the author one question, what would it be?

Ana Turns Book Club Questions PDF

Click here for a printable PDF of the Ana Turns discussion questions

“A wealth of keen insight and just the right touch of delightful humor.” –Sigrid Nunez, author of What Are You Going Through

“Glorious, Hilarious... One of the most original creations I’ve seen.” –Gary Shteyngart, author of Our Country Friends

“An exquisitely written love letter to what it means to be a grown-up woman.” –Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

“Deeply perceptive, surprisingly funny, and smart as hell.” –Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek

“A powerful story of a woman coming into her own.” –Alice Elliot Dark, author of Fellowship Point