Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Becoming Duchess Goldblatt by Anonymous

1. Do you follow the Duchess's tweets? If so, does her book incorporate the same (or similar) style and pithiness?
2. What passages in Becoming Duchess Goldblatt do you feel carry the most weight in terms humor, compassion, or advice for living life as a person you wish to be? In other words, what most resonates with you? Did you have any "Ah-ha!" moments?
3. Well, just how funny is Duchess Goldblatt? What made you laugh out loud, or at least elicit a deep chuckle (or dainty snort)?
4. What does Anonymous tell us about her own life and her own vulnerability?
5. Who do you think Anonymous is, who's the real person behind the curtain? Well, of course, not WHO she is, but what she's like. Have some fun and create an identity for her. Speculate!—is the Duchess even a woman, is she really an octogenarian? Maybe she's a literary historian …or a 17th-18th century literature professor? Where do you think she lives?
6. The Duchess at one point insists she doesn't have many friends, that if you "get too friendly …they [will] inevitably drop you." But later she admits to a desire to connect with people, that she's "trying to make a new life" for herself. Do you find those revelation genuine ...or a part of her made-up character? Does her wariness of friendship feel familiar to you …or completely foreign?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.