White Collar Girl (40 page)

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. A major theme in
White Collar Girl
is women in the workplace and the challenges they faced in trying to break through the glass ceiling. How do you see the challenges facing career women in the 1950s as compared to those found in today's workplace? In what ways have we advanced and in what ways do you feel we are still stuck? Are there advantages women have now that they didn't have then?

2. At various points in the book, Jordan is confronted with moral issues over what she is willing to do to get a story. In some cases she even bends the law. Do you think she's justified in going to these lengths in order to expose the truth? Do you think her drive is based more on her feeling she's a public watchdog, or do you think it's her ego?

3. How do you see the other women in the story? Do you see M as a tragic figure or as a woman coming into her own? What about Gabby? Do you think Mrs. Angelo is a mentor, and did you feel like she was helping Jordan advance or holding her back? In what ways do you feel each of these characters were typical of their time, and in what ways were they not?

4. Jordan's mother, CeeCee, was an unusual woman for her time. Do you think she was a good mother? How do you think CeeCee shaped the woman Jordan grew up to be?

5. If you were of working age in the 1950s, would you see yourself more as a career-minded woman like Jordan or a traditionalist like M? What did you find most interesting about each woman? What did you find most frustrating about them?

6. Marty Sinclair, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, is Jordan's hero at the start of the novel, but as the story progresses he falls from grace. How do you think she handles the situation? What would you have done if you had been in her shoes?

7. When Jordan falls in love with Jack Casey, a fellow journalist, he seems threatened by her professional accomplishments. Do you think that was the major reason they didn't get married? What do you see as the other obstacles in their relationship? Were you glad that Jordan decided to walk away from him?

8. Scott Trevor was the love of Jordan's life. When she called in the story about the Operation K mole, it put an end to their budding romance. Do you think Scott's reaction was understandable? Do you think Jordan made a mistake in putting the story before her loyalty to him?

9. As we all know, sadly newspapers no longer play the role in our lives that they did even a decade or two ago, let alone one as important as they did in the 1950s, when they were everyone's primary source of news. Do you think in general we are less informed about local, national and world events due to the decline of newspapers? Or do you think we are better informed due to the immediacy of things like Twitter and 24-7 cable news?

10. Many of the scandals in
White Collar Girl
were based on actual events. Do you think we are more aware of political scandals today because in the digital age, social media and camera phones make it harder to conceal them? Or do you think we are less aware today because daily city newspapers play less of a role as a watchdog?

Photo by Charles Osgood

Renée Rosen
is a freelance writer and the author of
What the Lady Wants
,
Dollface
, and
Every Crooked Pot
. She lives in Chicago, where she is at work on her next novel.

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reneerosen.com

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