Same As It Ever Was: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of illness or death.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Same as It Ever Was shifts among four different timelines to tell Julia’s story. How did this structure affect your reading experience and your understanding of Julia as a character? Did any particular timeline resonate with you most strongly?

2. The novel’s title alludes to a lyric from the Talking Heads song “Once in a Lifetime,” which explores themes of disillusionment about middle-class suburban life. How does Lombardo’s portrayal of Julia’s suburban experience compare to other literary examinations of suburban life, such as Richard Yates’s Revolutionary Road?

3. Lombardo uses third-person limited narration to reveal Julia’s unreliable perceptions of herself and others. How did this narrative approach influence your connection to Julia? Were there moments when you recognized a gap between how she perceives herself and how others view her?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Julia struggles to reconcile her personal identity with her role as a mother, often feeling that motherhood has subsumed her sense of self.