Themes
The Challenges of Complex Family Dynamics and Relationships
Content Warning: The source material and this guide reference body image struggles, suicide, and alcoholism.
Daverley structures her novel around an in-depth examination of the intricacies and challenges inherent in human relationships, especially parental, sibling, and romantic connections. It underscores the significance of the positive experiences, supportive communication, and mutual understanding that come with fostering meaningful interpersonal bonds. Through her characters relationships with each other, Daverley emphasizes the importance of empathy, effective communication, and resilience in navigating the complexities of human relationships. The transformative journey of Rosie and Will's relationship sees them learning to navigate their issues with openness and understanding, embracing the truth that the tragedies and missteps they experience don’t have to reduce their ability to have a meaningful life.
The novel’s representation of parent-child relationships illuminates the emotionally charged nature of these ties. The enduring emotional impact of Will’s mother's abandonment on his life, juxtaposed with his close relationship with his supportive and caring Gran, illustrates the complexities inherent in familial bonds. Similarly, Rosie's strained relationship with her mother and their clash of expectations depict the generational and ideological disparities that strain familial connections. Rosie struggles to establish her identity while contending with her mother's high and sometimes harmful expectations, which elucidate the tension between personal aspirations and familial obligations. The clash of gender roles, family duties, and societal norms complicates Rosie and Josh's interactions with their family as they navigate the pressures imposed by their mother's expectations. Additionally, Daverley utilizes Will's relationship with Amber and Rosie's twin connection with Josh to underscore the complexities of sibling dynamics, portraying the intricate blend of conflict and camaraderie. The narrative grapples with the nature of Rosie’s connection to Josh that extends long past his death: “At what point [did] they [become] human. Were they twins before then? Or only when they developed brains, or hearts?” (42) Similarly, Will and Amber are deeply bonded but clash over their differing views of approaching a relationship with their estranged mother.
Daverley portrays the intricacies of romantic entanglements, unraveling how past experiences and unresolved emotions shape present relationships. The text explains the impact of emotional baggage, saying: “There is so much between [Rosie and Will], now. So many months, and so many things” (150). For instance, Will's reputation for engaging in myriad sexual relationships adds complexity to his relationship with Rosie, rendering it challenging for her to trust him fully. The depiction of Rosie's marriage to Simon and Will's partnership with Jen reveals how unresolved issues can create barriers to intimacy with new partners. By tracing Will and Rosie’s love story over a decade, replete with failures and missteps, Daverley emphasizes the notion that healthy love and connection necessitate patience, empathy, and profound self-awareness.
The Significance of Unspoken Words and Repressed Emotions
Daverley’s novel explores the ways that things left unsaid, whether out of fear, shame, or vulnerability, can be just as impactful as spoken words. Throughout the story, the protagonists’ relationships are defined by what they suppress and hold back, creating tension that fuels their connection and keeps them isolated. The author depicts Rosie and Will’s relationship as built on a deep, unspoken understanding, but also riddled with things they cannot say to each other—words that carry immense weight. Rosie harbors intense feelings for Will but cannot articulate them fully, allowing fear and uncertainty to cloud her judgment—an emotional distance she learns from her mother. The silence between mother and daughter reflects a generational pattern of emotional repression, where love exists but is expressed through actions rather than words. This dynamic contributes to Rosie’s vulnerability, as she has learned to internalize her feelings rather than express them openly. Rosie’s poetry writing symbolizes her attempts to connect to her own emotions. Crafting sentences and stanzas allows her to explore her emotions on paper without speaking them aloud, offering a temporary sense of relief. However, even in her writing, she finds it difficult to sit in the discomfort of her vulnerability. For example, after she writes a poem, she throws away the paper, and when she writes the words on her body, she covers them and then washes them away. Rosie’s moments of true connection with Will involve her pushing through those emotional barriers to telling him her true feelings: “I never sleep well, she tells him, because thinks she should be honest, and because [Will’s] being strange, so perhaps she can be her strange, most honest self in return” (23).
Daverley uses the trip to Montenegro to capture the potency of Rosie and Will’s repressed desire, giving them multiple opportunities to share their inner truths. However, their past traumas and uncertain futures cause them to hesitate to embrace each other fully. Will feels weighed down by the emotional repression resulting from his mother’s abandonment and his mental health struggles. He’s developed a deeply entrenched pattern of burying his pain and making silence a coping mechanism that prevents the risks inherent in deeper connection. Even in Gran’s illness, Rosie and Will struggle to talk openly. The text highlights the way they struggle to speak their feelings out loud even as they connect physically: “They are not used to hugging, and it doesn’t feel like a farewell embrace; it feels like they’re talking, through touch, their long, matching fingers saying things for them” (144). Leaving things unsaid may protect the characters and shield them from potential pain, but ultimately, Daverley’s narrative posits, it brings more heartache than help. Emotional suppression prevents Rosie and Will from fully connecting, leaving them feeling isolated and misunderstood. Through their fraught relationship, Daverley validates the idea that silence can be just as destructive as it is protective.
The Individualized Nature of Mental Health Concerns
The novel explores the pervasive effects of mental health concerns, exploring the ways in which depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder can influence not only an individual’s well-being but also their capacity to connect with others. The characters’ mental health remains a source of conflict throughout the novel, as each character goes on their own individual journey of treatment and healing before moving forward in their relationships. Daverley reveals the intricate ways in which mental health influences one’s sense of self and the world around them while also exploring the nuanced spectrum of living with and managing mental health conditions.
Will’s struggle with depression creates an emotional barrier that distances him from those he loves, particularly Rosie and Gran. Will has many regrets and is stuck in a loop of replaying his mistakes and obsessing over what he could have done differently. This fixation on past decisions fosters cycles of doubt and emotional self-criticism, which create a mental prison for Will, where he becomes stuck in patterns of shame and emotional paralysis, unable to embrace the present or fully trust in his own worth. Daverley describes his use of alcohol to cope with his depression, saying: “When he drinks, the thoughts ease, like the dialing down of volume, or the lowering of a flame on the hob” (150). Although Will takes antidepressants and finds them helpful, they also leave him feeling emotionally muted and detached from the world around him. Will’s mental health journey evolves as he learns healthy coping mechanisms for his anger and slowly realizes that he must come to terms with his emotions rather than hide them.
The specificity of detail that Daverley provides for each of the characters’ symptoms and experiences of mental health issues emphasize the personal nature of each person’s journey. Rosie’s OCD causes her to experience obsessive thought loops and engage in repetitive behaviors or rituals she calls “checking,” which at times interfere with her quality of life. Rosie's behavior highlights the emotional exhaustion of OCD tendencies, as she struggles to manage daily tasks such as sleeping and leaving the house. “She counts her steps, and recounts again. Avoiding the cracks in the pavement” (9). Rosie’s experience with OCD reveals the complications in diagnosing and treating the disorder and how it can profoundly affect a person’s life. Daverley’s examination of mental health emphasizes it not as a linear journey, but a challenging, varied and deeply personal one. Mental health significantly influences Will and Rosie’s relationship, affecting their communication, trust, and intimacy. Yet, through cultivating understanding, patience, and open dialogue, the couple commits to supporting each other and fostering a compassionate, honest environment.
