Discussion Questions for The Imperial Wife by Irina Reyn
One Book | One Community — Jewish Book Month 2017
Our thanks to Rachel Kamin and Irina Reyn
1.
How do the book's two plotlines mirror each other?
2.
In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, reviewer Shannon Reed claims that Tanya’s story and Catherine’s
are “twined together in a way that feels surprising believable.” Do you agree?
3.
Immigration plays an important role in the lives of both Tanya and Catherine. How does it inform
their choices? How does it impact their own expectations and the expectations imposed on them?
What are the challenges but also potential benefits of being planted outside of one’s comfort zone?
4.
Why does Tanya take a job in the Russian division when she “fantasized every day about having
nothing to do with anything Russian?” How does she define herself as a Russian Jew?
5.
What character do you find the most compelling? Is anyone a role model?
6.
How would you describe Tanya’s relationship with her parents? With her Judaism?
7.
How would you describe Sophie’s relationship with her mother?
8. Count Gyllenborg says to Sophie that her marriage is “a great pity. Such an imbalance of talents.”
Is this also true of Tanya and Carl? Anyone else?
9. Tanya’s mother says: “No man wants a daunting woman. No man wants a woman who earns more than him.
No man wants a woman who is too opinionated . . .” Similarly, in interviews with NPR and Vogue, Irina Reyn
commented that “protecting male egos is something that is very much ingrained in a patriarchal culture”
and “as much as we like to think our relationships are egalitarian, when a wife’s achievements eclipse those
of her husband it can sometimes spell trouble for a marriage. Even now, as much as we don’t want to admit
it, I think many people still sometimes feel a bit of discomfort being in a situation where the wife is the more
successful person . . . Can a marriage withstand that? Can we as a culture really embrace it?”
Has the way we view professional ambition in women changed from the time of Catherine the Great?
10. Tanya reflects “I dreamed of becoming what I am right now. But when did I ever enjoy the process of
becoming? When would I finally be satisfied with what I’ve achieved? At each juncture, there was always
more to want. More ways to be the most competent person in the room.”
Will Tanya ever be satisfied with her success?
11. Tanya’s friend Alla claims that “there are worse things in a marriage than affairs.
But be ready to find out something you don’t want to know.”
Do you agree? What does Tanya find out?
Does this change her?
Discussion Questions for The Imperial Wife by Irina Reyn
continued
12.
Describe Tanya and Carl’s relationship. What brought them together?
What is threatening to tear them apart?
13. Tanya says “. . . I wonder if I should have listened to Carl’s struggle more, acknowledged the difficulty of
the creative enterprise. I wonder if I couldn’t stand the idea of him being diminished, less than I needed
him to be. That maintaining his proper role in our relationship meant doing whatever it takes to get that
book written and published.”
Does Tanya see Carl as weak? How does she justify her work on his novel?
Does her plan backfire? Does Carl share responsibility?
14.
Could or should Tanya have acted differently to protect Carl’s ego? What could she have done?
15.
About the Order of St. Catherine, Carl says to Tanya, “You don’t want me to touch it. You don’t want me
to be anywhere near it. You want to keep me apart from it. It’s yours. It’s all yours.”
Why doesn’t Tanya want Carl to see the Order? Should either of them have acted differently?
16. When she learns of Medovsky’s death Tanya tries to convince herself that her “marriage is worth more
than one more house for his mistress, one more bribe to a president.”
Is her marriage worth more than a man’s life? Would Medovsky be alive if Tanya hadn’t steered
him away from bidding on the Order?
17.
The inscription on the Empress’ medal reads: “By her works she is to her husband compared.”
What does this mean?
18.
Near the end of the novel, Tanya says to herself: “I remind myself to put the entire thing in
perspective. The decision has been made; only my marriage matters, not an auction. Carl and
his family will be grateful; it will be a new beginning for us all.”
Do you agree? What do you think of the ending? What do you think will happen?