7. Why does Sorella Agata feel so compelled to help the homeless women she meets in the alleyway? Do you agree with Madre Carmela when she tells her that it is impossible to save every woman and that it isn’t her responsibility to save everyone? How has helping other women in need given Sorella Agata a new purpose and aided in her own healing?
8. Discuss all that Sorella Agata had to give up when she became a nun. What has she gained by her vocation? Do you feel she struggles at times between her identity before she was a nun and her new identity once she has taken her vows? Discuss how her life would have been different if she had not decided to take her vows.
9. After Claudia meets Antonio and hears him talking about Sorella Agata when she was young, before she took her vows, she realizes he never stopped loving her, although now it’s more a love comprised of friendship and deep respect and admiration. How is the relationship between Antonio and Sorella Agata mutually beneficial, both when they were young and now in their older age?
10. When Claudia first arrives at the convent, she senses a spiritual, almost mystical, quality there. Do you believe there was something magical about the Convento di Santa Lucia? And do you believe that it was Sorella Agata’s tears that made her pastries taste far better than those made by the other workers?
Rosalia's Bittersweet Pastry Shop Page 41