As a result of her having gained international attention for The Stone Diaries, Shields's earlier works are getting some belated attention. Among them, The Republic of Love is her foray into the romance genre. The ways in which this novel fits the genre and departs from it are topics readers will want to discuss.

1. How does the security of lasting love weigh in compared to other attributes such as a fulfilling career or independence in this novel?

2. What clues does Shields give us that Tom and Fay are ready to give love another chance?

3. Fay and Tom are from very different families. Fay's family lives in Winnipeg where she has breakfast at the doughnut shop with her father every week and sees her sister on Wednesday nights. Tom talks by phone, but rarely visits his once single mother, now married, living in rural Canada. How does...