Bridgers's style in this novel is particularly notable in her ability to convey confused states of mind by metaphor, her understanding of power exchanges in conversation, and her use of touch to define the characters' varying relationships. Hugs, slaps on the back, handclasps, the laying of hands on shoulders and arms are a way of measuring the changes that have taken place since characters last saw each other or the resilience of their affection even when it is not verbally acknowledged.

In Permanent Connections it is also necessary for Bridgers to convey many of Rob's recollections of earlier times by flashback, because they offer some clues to the person he hides from other people. In his memories of the garden flowers, the few family visits his estranged father ever paid, and fragments of the liturgical services of his youth, we understand what the people around him...