Catherine Ryan Hyde, bestselling author of Pay It Forward, returns with a provocative tour de force on first love—a modern-day rendering of West Side Story born on a New York City subway car and nurtured under the windmills of the Mojave Desert. Visit Catherine’s website at www.cryanhyde.com

1. Do you think it is a coincidence or a pattern that Maria, who had an abusive father, then found a man who abused her?
2. This leads us to consider the next generation: might Natalie’s life turn out differently through having known Sebastian?
3. Do you think Maria could have found her way out of her abusive relationship without the support of her sister? Does breaking out of a box of abusive control rely heavily on the support of others, and from having someone mirror back a different reality?
4. Similarly, how differently do you think Sebastian’s life would have turned out without the support of Delilah? (more…)