1. At the start of the novel, Rose abides by a set of strict ideals. How do these self-imposed standards shape her response to Nathan’s behavior? How do they begin to warp and unravel as the novel progresses? Finally, how do they build toward the pivotal scene at McDonald’s? Consider how the ordinary is transfigured during these scenes, and how this fast food chain becomes a “holy place” for Rose (261).
2. On page 277, while speaking to Victor, Rose breathlessly describes an unusual meal. How does this moment feel surprising but inevitable? What does it tell us about Rose’s transformation?
3. The Hitch begins with an epigraph from Rumi: “Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you.” How does this quote inform your understanding of the novel and its characters? Does it change as the novel moves forward? How does it allow you to better understand Rose and her relationship to Walter? To her family and to Omar? Finally, how does it unexpectedly set the novel’s comedic tone?
4. On page 204, Rose interprets Nathan’s refusal to let go of Hazel as a reaction to loneliness. Nathan quickly redirects the question of loneliness back to her, and Rose reveals on page 210 that she has felt lonely her “whole life.” In what ways does Hazel prompt this self-reflection? How does Hazel become an unlikely mirror and ally for Rose?
5. Levine’s style is sharply comedic, and The Hitch is often absurdist, even surreal. How does this tone illuminate the novel’s exploration of grief? How can humor deepen the emotional impact of difficult truths?
6. Rose’s preoccupations—from cooking and redecorating to classical music—often signal a shift in the story’s movement. Chapters frequently open with a vegan recipe she seems to offer to the reader, as if inviting a brief distraction. In this way, Rose’s inner monologue and the sublimation it implies deftly shape the narrative structure, diffusing and heightening the central thread of tension at key moments to create propulsion and suspense. What are some other ways character and voice drive, determine, or manipulate the novel’s overarching structure and pacing?
7. Where do you find Rose’s voice to be unreliable? How and where does Levine signal that she might be missing some crucial aspect of the story?
8. On page 5, while watching Nathan and Walter play, Rose quotes a key moment from Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale: “They’re like twinned lambs that did frisk i’ the sun. And bleat the one at th’ other!” These lines, spoken by Polixenes to describe his idyllic childhood friendship with Leontes, shed light on how Rose perceives her nephew. How might Rose be idealizing Nathan? How does Hazel’s arrival disrupt this idealized view, and what does this extraordinary shift suggest about the dangers and inevitability of projection within family relationships?
9. The above quote from The Winter’s Tale is the first of many references to Shakespeare in The Hitch. Later, on page 89, it’s Hazel who quotes a famous Shakespeare play, specifically Macbeth. Even the school principal, Dr. Abbassi, speaks in “Shakespearean asides” (116). A famous line from Hamlet appears twice. Later, on page 279, Rose thinks: “And why be afraid of a corgi who knows Shakespeare? All this time—I think she might have been catering to my taste?” How do these repeated references enhance your reading of the novel? How do they change your understanding of Hazel’s motives?
10. Similarly, The Hitch contains at least ten direct references to the composer Gustav Mahler. What do Mahler’s symphonies mean to Rose, and why does she insist on listening to them with her nephew? On page 94, while speaking to Nathan, Rose says, “your father used to love Mahler.” Later, on page 215, Rose laments that her brother “professes to no longer like classical music.” How does Rose’s attachment to Mahler represent her childhood connection to her brother, Victor? How does Rose attempt to repair this fractured bond through her relationship to Nathan?
11. A character’s point of view could be defined as what she notices about the world around her. What are some other patterns you noticed while reading The Hitch, and what do those patterns tell us about how Rose sees the world?
12. How well does Rose see Nathan? How might her own experience as a child inflect the way she relates to him?
13. How does Hazel’s place in the story function as a metaphor for whatever is strange, different, or unwelcome inside our children and ourselves?
14. How do you interpret Nadia’s spiritual abilities? How does she complicate the witch archetype?
15. What do you think actually happened during the “spirit removal” scenes from pages 220 to 229? Where does Nadia go? Why do you think the novel shifts to present tense during this section, and what effect does it have?
16. What do you think happened to The Cultured Cow? After Nathan’s parents return, Rose mentions that she and Doug work to rebuild the brand. Do you think Rose chooses to sell, in the end, and move to Paris?
17. Discuss Omar’s role throughout the novel. How does his presence and sensibility ground the more surreal elements of the story?
18. In an interview with The Creative Independent, Levine discusses her novel Treasure Island!!!, and how the book upends the conventions of the adventure plot. How does The Hitch transform the possession plot, and how might this reinvigorate our understanding of what the contemporary novel can do?
19. On page 171, after a climactic event, Rose thinks: “Some part of me found it pleasurable to be, at last, out of control.” In what ways does the novel orbit around the emotional question of control? What does Rose gain when she ultimately relinquishes that control?
20. The Hitch ends with a list: a cataloguing of the items found within Nathan’s forgotten backpack. How does something as simple as a list—the mention of a Ziploc bag, a whale shark figurine, a worksheet—create profound emotional resonance? Why is this ending more satisfying than a straightforward declaration of Rose’s love for Nathan?
21. On page 122, Rose says, “I don’t care what anybody says: Dogs don’t supply unconditional love. But they let you love them, even ravish them, without any humiliating remarks—and that’s a service.” Do you agree that dogs don’t supply unconditional love? How much of our ideas and feelings about dogs are projection? What does Rose’s remark suggest about her own love troubles?
22. Upset that Hazel has witnessed his sexual activity, Omar accuses Hazel of having “bad boundaries” (134). What other boundary crossings are figured in The Hitch? Does the novel seem to agree with Omar that all boundary crossings are “bad”?
23. How did the blue alabaster knight find its way into Nathan’s backpack?
24. How would you express your own affection for someone with a list? Spend five or ten minutes describing what you’d find in a loved one’s backpack, car, or suitcase. Share your list with the group. Which items surprise you?
Suggestions for Further Reading
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
Death Valley by Melissa Broder
Severance by Ling Ma
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine
The First Bad Man by Miranda July
You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman
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