The Dead Romantics

How does Florence coming to terms with the death of her father teach her about love? How does the novel balance its themes of love and death? Use evidence from the text for support.

How do the tropes and patterns of romance—the meet-cute, the grand gesture, and the reconciliation scene—play out in Florence’s romance with Ben? How does their romance follow conventional patterns of contemporary romance? How does it differ?

How do the other love stories in the novel—between Florence’s parents, between Florence’s brother and his partner, between Alice and Rose, and others—reflect on, support, or contrast with the romance between Florence and Ben? What does the novel argue more generally about love and romance?

How does the novel portray the city versus the small-town settings in the story? How does it portray the life Florence lives in New York City versus the life she has in Mairmont? How do the different settings bring out the different parts of her personality? What does Florence get from each place that she needs?

What is the appeal that stories hold for Florence? Why do you think she continually tries to frame her own life experience in terms of a narrative, particularly a love story? What does it mean that Ben, too, has been shaped by his love of stories?

What is the novel’s stance toward ghosts? Why is Florence, like her father, the only one who can see them? What does the paranormal element add to the novel’s themes of love, death, and grief?

Trace the influence that other literature has in the novel, as allusion, in-joke, or thematic framework (for instance the title’s reference to the early 19th century English Romantic poets). What do these other references contribute to the novel’s message, theme, and tone?

How does Poston’s use of humor and satire throughout the novel balance the weightier themes of grief and loss? What larger point about laughter and joy does the novel make?