Is the author trying to suggest that Lippi is some kind of reincarnation of Ambrogio? What is the relationship between these two characters, separated by centuries?

Maestro Lippi occupies the studio of Maestro Ambrogio, and, like Ambrogio, he, too, has a dog named Dante.

In what ways are they different? How are they the same? And what about the present-day narrative. Consider the bonds of family, love and duty in the three families we meet in the 1340 storyline, beginning with the relationship between fathers and their children.

Juliet is in many ways a novel about families and the secrets and obligations that hold them together.

Why does Friar Lorenzo champion the young lovers, risking his life on their behalf? Do you think he is justified in placing a curse on both the Tolomei and the Salimbeni houses?.

How does the relationship of Janice and Julie evolve over the course of the novel? What are the major turning points? Did you find these changes believable? Why or why not?.

Is there a rational explanation for this dream, or is it a supernatural occurrence? And what about the other seemingly supernatural events or objects in the novel, such as the divine intervention of the Virgin Mary on Giulietta's wedding night with Messer Salimbeni, or the destructive powers of Romeo's signet ring can these events be explained rationally?

Very early in the novel, we are introduced to Julie's recurring dreama dream that seems to foretell her own fate and to recapitulate the fate of Romeo and Guilietta centuries earlier.

Did you find Umberto to be a sympathetic character? Why or why not?

Although there are surprising revelations about all the characters in the novel, perhaps the most shocking has to do with Umberto, Aunt Rose's faithful butler.Why do you think Fortier introduces this element into her story? Discuss the ways in which the bonds of sisterhoodfor good and for illare central to the novel.Looking at the 'original' story of Romeo and Giulietta set in 1340, consider in what ways Fortier uses Shakespeare's great tragedy as a model for her own work, and in what ways she departs from it. In Anne Fortier's novel Juliet, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet casts a long shadow over the lives of the main characters, past and present.Reading Group Questions and Discussion Topics for Juliet:

Juliet book anne fortier