Identity

The novel explores the complexities of claiming one’s identity amidst hardship via Evie Porter’s job with Mr. Smith. Eight years prior to the narrative present, Evie takes the job with Mr. Smith because she wants to be able “to make the money [she] need[s] to make [her] dream[s] a reality” (79). She knows that working with Mr. Smith will require her to give up her old life and identity, but plans to “go back to being Lucca Marino, small-town girl from Eden, North Carolina who lives in [her] fantasy house with [a] fantasy garden” one day (79). However, the longer that Evie is employed by Mr. Smith, the more compromising and confusing the job becomes. Over time, she becomes increasingly divorced from her true self. She not only has to adopt a series of different aliases, but is forced to give up her true...