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Discussion Guide

Don't Forget to Write

In 1960, a young woman discovers a freedom she never knew existed in this exhilarating, funny, and emotional novel by the bestselling author of She’s Up to No Good.

When Marilyn Kleinman is caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation, her parents ship her off to her great-aunt Ada for the summer. If anyone can save their daughter’s reputation, it’s Philadelphia’s strict premier matchmaker. Either that or Marilyn can kiss college goodbye.

To Marilyn’s surprise, Ada’s not the humorless septuagenarian her mother described. Not with that platinum-blonde hair, Hermès scarf, and Cadillac convertible. She’s sharp, straight-talking, takes her job very seriously, and abides by her own rules…mostly. As the summer unfolds, Ada and Marilyn head for the Jersey shore, where Marilyn helps Ada scope out eligible matches―for anyone but Marilyn, that is.

Because if there’s one thing Marilyn’s learned from Ada, it’s that she doesn’t have to settle. With the school year quickly approaching and her father threatening to disinherit her, Marilyn must make her choice for her future: return to the comfortable life she knows or embrace a risky, unknown path on her own.

These book club questions are from the author's website. 

Book club questions for Don't Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino

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

Do you feel Marilyn’s parents want her to marry Dan to save her reputaton or their own? Why?
What were your first impressions of Ada? How did those change as you learned more about her?
How effectve do you think Ada’s methods are for finding matches? Is she looking for the right combinaton of compatbility attributes?
Ada disapproves of Freddy’s family—why? What does Marilyn see that Ada wouldn’t like?
Why does Marilyn reject Freddy when he comes to her after his ex shows up pregnant?
Why didn’t Marilyn tell Freddy about the typewriter and wantng to write? She says he never asked, but Marilyn doesn’t seem like the type of girl who waits, so why did she keep that from him?
Marilyn tells Ada that Freddy didn’t break her heart. If she’s not in love with him, why is she spending so much tme with him?
How does Ada’s revelaton about Rose fit into Marilyn’s view of her mother?
Why does Ada immediately take to Dan when she wanted nothing to do with Freddy?
Do you think an affair with Hemingway happened? Why or why not?
Ada tells Marilyn that the world loves to destroy what it doesn’t understand? Is this true? What are some examples?
Marilyn’s father says he will sit shivah for her and that she will be dead to them if she stays with Ada. Do you think he would follow through on that or is it an empty threat?
Why doesn’t Ada just give Marilyn money to start a new life? What obstacles would stll be in place if she did that?
Does Lillian drop any clues that Marilyn misses about the end?
Do you think Ada is actually in the back of the funeral? Or is it Marilyn’s imaginaton?
Modern readers are expected to see Ada and Lillian’s relatonship—when did you first suspect something was up with Ada and Lillian? Why might Marilyn miss that in 1960?
What do you think they’ll find in Key West? Is Ada there?
Ada tells Marilyn that if she ever gets tred of being Ada Heller, Key West is waitng—do you think she actually got tred of being Ada Heller? Or did she do this entrely for Marilyn?
Marilyn obviously learns a lot from Ada, but what did Ada learn from Marilyn?
Do you think Marilyn and Dan will last? Why or why not?

Don't Forget to Write Book Club Questions PDF

Click here for a printable PDF of the Don't Forget to Write discussion questions