Fathers/Father Figures

Egan weaves the theme of fathers and father figures throughout the novel's timeline in order to draw parallels between seemingly disparate time periods and social spheres. As early as the novel's first chapter, 11-year-old Anna Kerrigan and 8-year-old Tabatha Styles -- whose families' economic situations vastly differ -- are brought together by a business meeting between their fathers, Eddie Kerrigan and Dexter Styles. Those men are two of the novel's three main characters, and their roles as fathers -- as well as their relationships to their own fathers and father figures -- prove integral to the novel's action.

Eddie Kerrigan grew up in a Roman Catholic protectory, an institution for neglected and abandoned children. However, the path of his life is shaped early on when, as a young boy, he meets an elderly man named Jacob De Veer, who becomes a father figure and...