Printable Book Club Questions for The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey

The book starts off in July 14, 1944 in New York City when Dottie, Viviana and Fiona are on the Queen Elizabeth departing for Europe. Let’s talk about why the three women decided to embark on this journey. What would you have done the same thing if you were in Fiona’s shoes?
Each of the three women are different but they’re clearly very close and there for one another. Did their friendship remind you of your own friendships? Which character out of the three do you think you’re the most like?
This story is about the real-life Red Cross Clubmobile girls. Did you know anything about those real-life women going into the story? Why do you think the women signed up to go overseas during the war?
While the girls are sent over believe it’s going to be mostly donut and coffee making, there’s so much more responsibility that they have. When do you think it started to get more “real” and serious for the trio of women—that they were actually in the middle of the war?
The trio also struggled the most at first. Why do you think it was hard for them and when did they start to finally get the hang of everything?
There’s plenty of vivid details from that era to the music to the dances to the clothing – what stuck out to you when reading those kind of details?
Fiona and Peter’s first couple of interactions were definitely rough. Why do you think Peter was a bit distant with Fiona, was it because of what he experienced at the war? When did they both start to warm up to each other? Why do you think Fiona held back the info that Danny was her fiancé at first?
Viv tires to brush off any flirtation from Harry, even though it’s obvious she has feelings of him. She says she didn’t come there to meet a man as she could have done that at home. She’s also not looking to get married and pregnant anytime soon as “she’s got some living to do.” Let’s talk about how, in many ways, Viv is ahead of her time.
What did you think about the romance between Dottie and Joe?
There’s so many descriptions of war. Something that especially stuck out was how young the soldiers were. Fiona remarks that while they are young in age, they had the eyes of old souls and their invisible battle scars were apparent. Let’s discuss this. Have any of your relatives fought in a war? Do/did they talk about their experiences?
Viv says at one point that being in the midst of the war was a world all its own. And when Fiona is in the cafe with Peter, she says that: “Peter and I were in our own separate space outside of everything, living for this brief time together— it made us feel hopeful and human. And tomorrow we would go back to the war and hope for another moment like this in the future, though there were no guarantees there would ever be one.” Let’s talk about what she means by this and how the war bonded people together.
Fiona still loves Danny but she also falls in love with Peter. Do you think it’s possible to fall in love with two people at the same time?
What did you think about the scene on Christmas Eve where the American soldiers meet lost German soldiers at the German family’s cottage in the woods during the Battle of the Bulge?
Fiona eventually finds out that Danny did pass away. Were you surprised by this story choice? Why or why not?
Let’s talk about the ending. Viv marries Harry and is moving to England; Dottie is going to go on tour and both Fiona and Peter will be stationed in Berlin. Do you think Fiona and Peter will get married one day? What happens next for Dottie? And what about Viv married in England?