READERS GUIDE

Claire Lombardo, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Most Fun We Ever Had, returns with the mesmerizing story of a life marked by loss and longing but redeemed by enduring devotion. Brimming with Lombardo’s signature wry wit and captivating storytelling, Same As It Ever Was begins in the most familiar of places: a grocery store, where Julia Ames is prepping for her husband’s sixtieth birthday party. A chance encounter there propels her to a decidedly unfamiliar place emotionally, reunited with the memories of her turbulent past. As Julia confronts hard truths about her deeply rooted fears, she retraces the crossroads of her career, her marriage, and her parenting, even as she struggles to accept that her son and daughter are navigating adulthood with maps of their own making.
Woven with finely tuned flashbacks and heartrending revelations, Same As It Ever Was showcases why Lombardo is arguably one of the finest voices of her generation. We hope this guide will enhance your reading group’s experience of this poignant meditation on family and fate.

Questions and Topics for Discussion

1. When you were first introduced to Helen Russo, what were your hunches about her history with Julia? As their story unfolded, what did you observe about the basis of their friendship? What did they ultimately need from each other?

2. What were the greatest sources of tension in Mark and Julia’s marriage? What were the sturdiest strands—emotional or otherwise—that held their relationship together and strengthened it over the years?

3. As Julia copes with feelings of loneliness after Ben is born, what does she discover about herself? If that story of new parenthood had been told from Mark’s point of view, how would it have been different? How did his experiences as an outsider in his family shape his approach to fatherhood?

4. Are there any parallels between Julia’s trysts with Nathaniel and her relationship with Jonathan when she was a high school senior? In both cases, how was she affected by the power imbalance of a difference in age? What other vulnerabilities were in place in those situations?

5. Discuss the varied meanings of the novel’s title. In this multigenerational book, to what extent does history repeat itself? In the novel, do the repetitions of daily habits and the rituals of celebration provide comfort, or are they a form of entrapment? What does it take for the next generation to make corrections?

6. How did your impressions of Julia’s mother, Anita Greene, change as you learned more about her? How much of Julia’s emotional state, along with her beliefs about men and motherhood, is the result of her mother’s choices? How heavily do temperament and fate factor in?

7. If you were Julia, would you have been wary of Brady and Francine? What lies at the heart of Julia’s penchant for comparing herself to others, with a special emphasis on Helen’s wine selections? How do money and class affect Julia’s sense of self?

8. Are Ben and Sunny embarking on a marriage of equals? How is their attitude toward parenting different from that of their parents?

9. What are the differences and similarities in Ben’s and Alma’s upbringings?

10. As Alma/Ollie and Margo prepare to launch their adult lives, what possibilities are available to them that Julia didn’t have? Intentionally or not, what has Julia taught her daughter about womanhood and resilience?

11. One constant throughout the novel is Suzanne, the tiny terrier. What enables pets to sustain a human family, sometimes echoing the personalities of their owners?

12. The novel’s timeline reflects the way memory is interwoven with the present. As Julia’s childhood became clearly focused for you, how did your understanding shift? How did the revelations about her father, Lawrence M. Marini,” and her decision to forego the scholarship at Northwestern affect the course of her life? In your life, do important things usually happen accidentally or intentionally? Does memory provide momentum, or is it a hurdle?

13. What transformations does Julia undergo in the closing scenes? How did those scenes impact the way you view your own relationships? Which moments from your life would you like to experience as a freeze frame?

14. How does Same As It Ever Was add a new dimension to the depiction of families and hidden truths in Claire Lombardo’s debut novel, The Most Fun We Ever Had? What is unique about the parents and siblings who inhabit her storylines? 

Suggested Reading

Kate Atkinson, Normal Rules Don’t Apply: Stories
Gina Chung, Green Frog: Stories
Jonathan Franzen, Crossroads
Michelle Hart, We Do What We Do in the Dark
Katherine Heiny, Early Morning Riser
Diane Johnson, Lorna Mott Comes Home
Tayari Jones, An American Marriage
Amitava Kumar, My Beloved Life
Jhumpa Lahiri, Whereabouts
Kayla Maiuri, Mother in the Dark
Jackie Polzin, Brood
Richard Russo, Somebody’s Fool
Maggie Shipstead, Great Circle
Jane Smiley, Lucky
Emma Straub, All Adults Here
Anne Tyler, French Braid
Meg Wolitzer, The Female Persuasion