Heart the Lover

For most of the novel, the narrator goes by a nickname given to her by Sam and Yash—“Jordan,” after the character from The Great Gatsby. Later, Yash and Jordan call each other “Hink,” and Yash affectionately calls Sam’s children “tadpoles” and Marni’s daughters “the pigeons.” How do nicknames create—or deflect—intimacy throughout the book? Is Jordan a good name for the narrator?

How does gender shape Jordan’s education compared to Yash’s and Sam’s? Consider especially their relationships to their professors.

Jordan essentially moves into the Breach House with Sam and Yash for her senior year. She is enamored with not only the boys but their lifestyle—one dominated by reading, play, and intellectual debate. What makes the Breach House so special to Jordan? What does it teach her about herself? Have you ever created a sense of home like that?

As Jordan is getting to know Sam, Yash, and Ivan, she reveals that Cyra, a girl she lived with briefly the previous summer, was raped and killed shortly before the semester began. Yash soon reveals that he was also at Cyra’s funeral and saw Jordan there. What did you make of this connection and of Cyra’s death? How does it connect to the broader theme of gender in the book—including Jordan’s father’s treatment of his second wife, Yash’s father’s view of his mother, and EJ’s anger towards Marni? How does it impact Jordan and her relationships with Sam and Yash?

Jordan, Sam, and Yash all view their lives and relationships through the lens of books and stories: Independent People, The Aeneid, Augustine’s Confessions, Ulysses, The Great Gatsby. Pick one of these books and consider how it relates to the novel. Or, discuss your own relationship to books: have you ever had a book shape a romance or friendship the way they do for Jordan, Yash, and Sam?