The Things We Leave Unfinished

“But I wanted her. I was supposed to know this woman—I felt it with every fiber of my being.”

Noah also experiences the romance device of feeling immediately drawn to Georgia. He reflects on how he has used the ploy in his own novels, playing on the theme of romance elements from fiction crossing over into real life.

“Noah Harrison filled the doorway, but it felt like he consumed the room. He had that kind of presence—the kind that other men paid thousands of dollars in acting classes to try to pull off for Damian’s films. The kind those actors had to have because they were playing roles Gran had written in her books.”

Georgia’s strong physical attraction to Noah is a major part of his appeal to her. The idealization of the hero in his physical attractiveness and emotional integrity is another technique common to the romance—one of the unrealistic expectations Noah accuses romance books of establishing.

“All around them, the world changed so far, she barely knew what to expect in the next minute. Bombs fell and planes crashed, yet he acted like they had years—when she wasn’t sure they even had days.”

The background of war behind Scarlett and Jameson’s romance adds tension around their chances for a happy ending. This conflict adds suspense, and the risk of harm increases the attraction and passion that the characters feel, heightening their bond.

“The manuscript ended at a crucial turning point in the plot, where the story could either descend into cataclysmic heartbreak or rally back from the depths of doubt to reach a love-conquers-all climax that would turn even the surliest bastard into a romantic.”

Scarlett’s unfinished manuscript ends at the structural point in the romance narrative referred to as the darkest moment, and the question of how Noah will end her story parallels the historical romance between Scarlett and Jameson and its ending. The question unites the two timelines plot-wise and thematically but also plays on the tension between the happy ending required by the romance and the possibly unhappy ending offered by real life.

“Finally. She felt as though she’d been waiting a lifetime for this man, this kiss, this moment, and it was finally here. There was no hesitation on her part, no gasp of surprise as he stroked his lips across hers, kissing her softly.”

The coming together of the leads is a big moment in the romance, when they consummate and confirm their attachment to each other. This is the point of commitment, when they know they want to be together. Scarlett and Jameson’s first kiss, which happens after a bombing attack on their airfield and a retaliation by the British squadron, is just such a commitment, and a burst of passion that contrasts the loss and destruction around them.

“When you have someone like your gran in the family, it’s nearly impossible to get out from under that kind of shadow.”

Ava uses the metaphor of a shadow to refer to Gran’s legacy and fame. This moment reveals Ava’s character motivations, which are to exploit Gran’s books for her own gain. The passage, with this central image, also illustrates how Ava’s role as a mother is a darker and more harmful version of the mothering Gran provided to Georgia.

“The last man who promised to keep me safe screwed his lead and dropped me on my ass.”

As part of the self-conscious discussion of romance genre conventions, the novel points out that the protagonists have a character flaw that causes conflict in their quest for love. Georgia’s evident flaw is her inability to trust, which she attributes to Damian’s betrayal. When she first rock climbs with Noah, she fears he will drop her, too.

“Only with Jameson did Scarlett allow herself to simply feel. The need, the longing, the pain, the overwhelming ache of love in her heart—she surrendered to it all.”

Part of what Noah accuses as being unrealistic about romance novels is the intensity of connection, attraction, and pleasure the characters feel. Emotions are intensified on the page to stir an emotional response in the reader. Scarlett and Jameson’s relationship, referred to as an epic love story, incorporates these elements of heightened passion.

“That’s the kind of love that stories are written about, Georgia. The kind that makes people believe it has to be out there for them, too.”

As Noah attempts to persuade Georgia to let him write a happy ending to Scarlett’s book, he argues for the reason that people read and love romance stories—the chance to imagine experiencing rare, passionate love that overcomes all obstacles.

“Somehow, she’d found a miracle in the middle of the maelstrom, and it may have taken her a moment to realize what she had, but now that she did, she would fight with everything she had to keep it—to keep him.”

This passage, referring to Scarlett and Jameson’s grand passion, points to how the powerful love in the romance prompts the characters to struggle against all odds—and their own internal fears—to be together. Here again, for the historical lovers, the external conflict of war heightens the beauty of their shared love.

“You have to be of steady hands and stout heart to stand at that board, Assistant Section Officer. Men’s lives are at risk.”

Scarlett’s lecture from her superior stresses the values needed at her job, of which Scarlett is proud, but these are qualities Scarlett already displays. Scarlett’s job is emotionally challenging, as is Jameson’s. These are character traits that Georgia shares; her ability to contain her emotions earned her the nickname “The Ice Queen” during her divorce proceedings.

“Maybe my life had caught on fire, but that’s where I shined, right at the melting point where I could take the molten remains and reshape them into something beautiful. I wanted to sculpt again. I wanted to bend glass to my will. I wanted another chance to be happy.”

When Noah pushes her out of her comfort zone and challenges her to climb the rock wall, Georgia has this epiphany. Her love relationship has forced her to confront her flaw—her inability to trust others—and this realization is a turning point in her character arc. Glass, which represents Georgia’s creative passion, serves as a metaphor for her character.

“The key to bringing them the ending they deserve is to pick at their flaws until they bleed, then make them conquer that flaw, that fear, in order to prove themselves to the one they love.”

This passage offers another metafictional moment in which the characters inside the romance discuss the story arc and expectations of romance. In explaining her plotting strategy to Constance, Scarlett reveals the authorial strategy described by Noah and used by Yarros to provoke an emotional response and encourage investment in the story.

“This…this was life. This was exactly how making love was supposed to feel, and I’d missed out on it up until now. I’d settled for so much less, not knowing that this kind of need had existed—that Noah existed.”

In romance, the intensity of the desire and connection between the characters is often expressed in terms of sexual desire and compatibility. Georgia experiences not just desire but genuine need for Noah, confirming that he is the appropriate romantic partner for her.

“The first time I’d seen her, I’d known, and every time I kissed her, it only became more apparent—she was it for me. The one. The endgame. […] I’d do exactly as I promised and win her over, not just her body, but her heart.”

Noah’s realization of his attachment to Georgia relies on another romance convention: the conviction that this partner is special, unique, perhaps destined, and there will never be another love affair like theirs. The integration of emotion with the sexual bond is what distinguishes the romance genre from erotica.

“I heard it in the back of my mind—the gasp, the gurgle, the love that had consumed me less than an hour ago twisting, contorting into something ugly and poisonous.”

The romance story pattern often calls for a separation between the lovers, where it looks as if all hope is lost. For Georgia, finding out Noah kept from her the knowledge that he had finished both endings of Scarlett’s book feels like a betrayal and the end of her love for him. The allusion to drowning evokes Jameson’s crash at sea, which marks the separation between him and Scarlett.

“Some things you have to fight for, Georgia. You can’t just walk away and leave it unfinished when it gets too complicated. If I could fly off and fight the Nazis to win your love, I would. But all I’ve got to battle with are your demons, and they’re kicking my ass.”

In another metafictional comment on the romance story pattern, Noah refers to how the hero must fight to win the heroine. Where Scarlett and Jameson had to contend with the external obstacle of war, Noah has the more difficult task of addressing Georgia’s internal obstacles, her lack of trust.

“You know, I used to think the term falling in love was an oxymoron. It should be rising, right? Love is supposed to make you feel like you’re on top of the world. But maybe that phrase is so popular because actually making it work is rare. Everyone else just crashes at the end of it.”

Noah’s meditation in love is playful in a novel that is about love, but also contains a hint of irony reflecting the pain he feels being separated from Georgia during the dark moment stretch of their storyline. Noah’s reference to crashing parallels Jameson’s crash in the preceding chapter.

“[Scarlett’s] heart clenched, as if she could feel the very pain she was putting her character through. She reminded herself that she would put them back together once they had both grown enough to deserve the other. This wasn’t a permanent heartbreak. This was a lesson.”

Scarlett, writing what will be the first Scarlett Stanton novel about the diplomat’s daughter, feels invested in the arc of her characters and reflects on the conventions of romance writing, another playful metafictional comment on the genre. The passage is full of dramatic irony, as Scarlett’s inevitable heartbreak has already been discussed.

“She made it as far as their last day together, but hadn’t been able to bring herself to what came next […] But for those few hours, she’d let the pain slip away and had fallen into a world where Jameson was still in her arms. That’s where she wanted to live, where that day was her own little eternity.”

This passage provides information regarding the unfinished manuscript, which has functioned throughout as a key plot device. Scarlett’s reflection also illustrates the imaginative escape to be found in writing and the pleasures of reading a romance story, with its promise of happiness.

“Scarlett gasped as [the pain] overtook her, her eyes sweeping down the spreading bloodstain across her blue plaid dress—the same one she’d worn for that first date with Jameson.”

This passage captures the surprise twist to the plot: Scarlett also dies. The blue plaid dress she wore on their first date symbolizes her connection to Jameson. In keeping with the trope of epic passion, Scarlett’s death will be viewed as a way of reuniting with him.

“Promise me you’ll protect him. Scarlett’s words whispered through the cacophony of the street, consumed her very being. She tightened her hold on William, tucking his head under her chin. This was where it ended. No more grief, no more bombings, no more loss. William would live.”

In a novel about unfinished things, this passage dwells on endings as Constance resolves to keep her promise to her deceased sister. The narrative slips for the first time into the point of view of Constance, who will turn out to be a primary character—the Gran Georgia knew and loved.

“Tragedy has a way of breaking gentle things and soldering the shattered pieces together in ways we can’t control.”

In a book full of characters who have dealt with deep grief, only Ava seems unable to heal from the shattering loss of her parents. Constance explains this to Georgia using the metaphor of glass blowing, which she knows Georgia will understand.