1. Why is the prologue set in Renaissance Florence?

2. Does it matter that Romy never understands the events behind Giulietta's Renaissance box?

3. Why do artists tend to colonize or otherwise congregate?

4. In the Renaissance section of the novel, art is funded by private patrons, the church, and the government. Can artists make a living from their work today? Should the arts be funded? How?

5. During the Depression, the government created an agency that employed out-of-work artists. Should a society pay artists to contribute their art to the public? Should there then be controls on what the artist creates?

6. Is there a conflict between love and work? Can it be resolved?

7. Romy and Augustine never have children. How hard is it to have a career and a family? Can a career stand in for children?

8. Do you think that the desire for immortality propels most artists?

9. If Romy and Augustine had never broken up, would they still be together in later life? Or are they together because they spent so much of their lives away from each other? Is love from a distance easier to sustain than love with someone who shares your day-to-day life?

10. How realistic is the manner in which Romy and her father finally comes to terms with each other and the past?