1. At the end of the first chapter, Mar says, “Much better, much safer, to keep others at arm’s length, free of the yoke of any suffocating connections.” It’s understandable that she might not be ready for new love, but why do you think she is so determined to avoid all emotional involvement?

2. Each month of the year, Mar takes up with a different “acquaintance.” Of the twelve acquaintances in the novel, who were your favorites? Why? Who do you think were Mar’s favorites?

3. Many of the scenes in the novel take place at Mar’s health club, Seaside Fitness. Why did the author choose a gym as the main setting for this story?

4. Mar is a skilled editor and writer, but she’s the first to admit that her own verbal gaffes often get her into trouble. What do these gaffes reveal about her character? Can you think of times in the book when this happens?

5. Reflecting on her divorce, Mar comments that “couples want to be friends with other couples, not with an abandoned wife.” Do you know anyone who has grappled with this problem after a divorce or separation? What advice would you offer Mar to get through this painful transition?

6. Why is Mar’s relationship with her son Michael so strained? Who do you feel is to blame for this—Michael, Mar herself, or ex-husband Henry?

7. Because Charlie is a writer, Mar connects with him in a way she never connected with her husband. Do you think Charlie and Mar are compatible? Why or why not?

8. Mar’s job as an engineering journal editor is not glamorous or high paying, but it’s very important to her. What does she get from her job that is missing from the rest of her life?

9. In an ironic reference early in the book, Mar informs readers that “reading fiction seems a bit like a waste of time to me.” What does this tell us about her character? How does her attitude about fiction shift in the course of the story—and why is this significant?

10. How does Mar change and grow during the year? What is the turning point in the plot that propels her to change course?

1. Have you had personal experience supporting friends or family members with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia? What, if anything, did you learn about the disease from this book that you didn’t previously know?

2. Stage Seven is largely a story about love. What are the different forms of love depicted in the novel? Which of the characters are most transformed by love in the course of the story?

3. Barbara and Vicky are sisters with very different personality types. Did you relate more to either one of these two characters? Are you more of a Barbara or a Vicky, and how so?

4. When siblings jointly care for a parent with dementia or another health problem, they may disagree on important decisions, but one source of conflict is the burden of care, which is often unevenly distributed. How did you feel about the way these issues are addressed in Stage Seven? Did anything in particular strike you as unfair, or is there anything you feel you would have handled differently had you been involved?

5. How are Sarah and Scott affected by their grandmothers’ Alzheimer’s diagnoses? How are they impacted by the affair between Barbara and Jack? What other role do these two younger characters play in the story?

6. Why do you think Barbara feels guilty about her affair with Jack? Do you think that Jack experiences guilt as well? Do you think that he should? Why or why not? How did you feel about their involvement?

7. At the start of the book, Barbara has been divorced for fifteen years from an unfaithful husband. How has that experience shaped her general outlook on life? How does it impact her relationship with Jack?

8. Jack says, “When you’ve met one person with Alzheimer’s, you’ve met one person with Alzheimer’s.” How is this theory reflected in the characters of Dolly and Helen, the two dementia patients in the story? How are they similar, and how are they different?

9. Barbara’s story takes place in the present, mostly following her life over the course of a single summer. But Jack and Helen Winokur’s story jumps around in time, revealing different periods of their relationship in nonsequential order. What overall effect does this nonlinear style of storytelling have on the book as a whole?

10. “We knew they’d get worse,” Jack says to Barbara, referring to the inevitability of Dolly’s and Helen’s respective declines. Though there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, does the book offer a message of hope and comfort? In what way?

Coming soon!