What was happening? How could I be so driven, obsessed, besotted by sex? I was almost fifty, starting on the path toward what the literary lionesses -- Germaine Greer, Simone de Beauvoir, Colette -- extolled as the third stage of a woman's life, 'Triumphantly post-sexual.' Not me. I was not going gentle down that path and I was flummoxed.

Questions for Discussion:

1. Have you ever met someone at a party, a bar, or a public event, felt a spark of interest and turned away? Why did you walk away? Did you regret it?

2. What made Sara receptive to Zack? If they'd met when they were younger, what might have happened?

3. Why do you think the children reacted so violently to Zack's continued presence?

4, What does Cowboy suggest about contemporary parenting?

5. Do you think it's possible to have great sex without love? Why is the physical relationship in Cowboy so important?

6. How did Sara expand and challenge Zack's views?

7. What did Zack offer Sara that she'd never experienced?

8. Whose needs come first: your children's? Your partner's? Your own? Does Sara rearrange her priorities through the course of the story?

9. What aspect of this relationship seems to represent the greatest hurdle: Money? Cultural difference? Class barriers? Conflict with the children? Which would you find most difficult to overcome?

10. How do the events in Sara's life affect her writing on the TV show? Does art imitate life or is life imitating art?

11. What do you see as the prospects for this relationship in the future?