READERS GUIDE

Questions and Topics for Discussion

1. Sunlight Finds You tells the story of Nora Chesnow and Leonard Lifton, two teenagers from 1950s Florida who fall in love even as various forces conspire to keep them apart. Are Leonard and Nora passive victims of fate, or is there anything they could have done to change their circumstances? In what ways are they active agents over their own futures? What larger questions relating to accountability, consequences, and social mores were raised for you as you read?

2. The novel is about a complicated romantic relationship between two young people, but it is also the story of two families, and the way that they negotiate their expectations and obligations to one another. How do the Chesnows and the Liftons grapple with each other? Despite their differing circumstances, do you think each family wields power? If yes, how so?

3. Nora and Leonard’s story unfolds against the backdrop of the Korean war, as well as changing attitudes in the United States toward race and gender. In what ways do the characters push against social norms, and in what ways do they reflect them?

4. Describe Nora’s character and the shifts she undergoes over the course of the eventful years during which the book is set. Why do you think Laura Moriarty chose to have an older Nora narrate the story, looking back on the events of her youth? What do we gain from this vantage? 

5. Laura Moriarty paints a vivid portrait of both Florida and New Jersey in the 1950s. How are these regions characterized? How do regional attitudes toward single women manifest differently in these settings? Is the tone of the social workers similar or different from that of Nora and Leonard’s families?

6. Describe the role of class in the novel. Do you think that questions of class influenced the response of Leonard’s parents to Nora’s predicament? Would they have behaved similarly if Nora were the daughter of a wealthy family? What socioeconomic class is Russ from, and how does that become an important factor in the story?

7. Leonard’s mother, Geneva Lifton, is a sophisticated and well-read woman, despite being primarily a homemaker. How might her love of reading have served as a way for her to connect with Nora? Was this a missed opportunity? What does it say about the role of literature in fostering (or failing to foster) ethical concern?

8. What role does Carol play in Nora’s own thinking about her life’s possibilities? Does Nora respect Carol? Pity her? Admire her? How do Nora’s conflicting emotions affect her ability to maintain a relationship with Carol once they each have made their crucial decisions?

9. When she’s a child, Nora’s mother sings her to sleep with the words, “Sweet dreams til sunbeams find you.” The title of the book seems to be referencing this song. Traditionally, sunlight is often used as a symbol of truth and enlightenment. How do the themes of truth and lies figure throughout the story? In a world where not all is as it appears, what significance might Carol’s blindness have as a literary symbol?

10. The novel begins with Nora describing a central loss: the death of her mother. How does this death act as a motor for the book, both in terms of its plot and its underlying themes? Does this cast light—no pun intended—on Leonard’s significance to Nora? Or on the relationship between Nora and Mrs. Lifton?

11. Russ admires Nora even though he’s aware of her history. What do Nora and Russ provide for each other? What do you think the central conflict of their partnership is, and how do each of them express it? How does Russ’s character and his ambitions reflect the development of Florida at the time?

12. The different experiences of Leonard and Nora represent the stark contrast with which men and women were treated in the 1950s. How does Moriarty underscore this social and political theme? How might this historical climate affect the relationships between the female characters in the book: Nora, Mae, Mrs. Lifton, Miss Berry, and Carol? Compare and contrast the models of womanhood that each character represents. How do gender and class intersect in the way these relationships unfold?

13. What does the ending of the novel suggest about what it takes to achieve reconciliation, even in the face of major disappointments, or betrayal, from those closest to us?