5. Despite the fact that Macy’s mother is deceased for the entirety of the novel, her presence looms large. It is her list that inspired the purchase of the Healdsburg house to begin with, the catalyst that sets Macy and Elliot on their journey. Discuss Macy’s mother as a character. In what ways do you find her haunting the pages of the novel? Can you find other instances when she impacts the choices the characters make?

6. Discuss Macy’s career choice. Do you think her decision to care for sick children is a result of losing her parents so young? Of losing the love of her life?

7. When Macy first gets her period, she reads a letter from her mother, who writes, “You are my masterpiece.” In what ways does Macy heed her mother’s advice and care for her body? In what ways does she disregard her mother’s wish that she care for herself?

8. Macy muses on page 136 that her dad “made a good living . . . but what we could never buy was chaos and bustle.” Why do you think Macy is so attracted to the Petropoulos family? Is it that opposites attract, or is it something more?

9. A possible definition of love emerges on page 205 after Macy begins to reconsider her life with Sean. “I’m terrified of what I’m feeling,” she says. “I feel like I’ve just woken up.” As someone who loves words, why do you think Macy finds it so difficult to articulate how she feels?

10. Loss plays a central role in Love and Other Words. Discuss the different kinds of loss that occur in the novel. Do all the characters handle loss similarly, or does “pressing down the familiar bubble of need” seem unique to Macy’s character?

11. Answer Elliot’s question to Macy on page 236: “Are you staying because of Phoebe?” If not, why does Macy stay in a relationship with Sean for so long?

12. The scene Macy walks into on that fateful New Year’s Eve stands in stark contrast to the scene years later at Elliot’s brother’s wedding when the two friends say “I love you” face-to-face for the first time. What other examples of contrasts can you think of in the novel? Consider Macy’s family, Elliot’s family, Sean, Elliot, and the past versus the present in your response.

13. Revisit the scene where Macy reveals what happened in the hours after she found Elliot passed out with Emma. Why do you think it took her so long to find the words to tell Elliot this story, the story he so desperately needed to hear?

14. Why does Elliot want “to move past this closet”? Do you agree with Elliot that you can’t go backward and that the key to happiness is moving forward?

Enhance Your Book Club

1. Macy and Elliot’s love affair begins over an innocent love of literature. The pair spends hours in Macy’s closet, devouring books and sharing that contented silence of reading together. With your book club, read Pay It Forward, the first book the pair bonded over as children and a book that encourages hope. Share with your reading group why you think both Macy and Elliot liked this novel. What reasons do Macy and Elliot have to find hope in the world? Do they find it, eventually? Do you see yourself as more inherently hopeful, like Elliot, or more hopeless, like Macy?