Grief and Loss

At the novel’s start, the author uses her main character Ellie’s father’s death to instigate an exploration of loss and grief. Although Ellie has three other siblings, she has always thought of herself as her father’s “favored daughter” (21). Because of their close connection and the unexpected nature of his death, Ellie struggles to reconcile herself with her loss. In the days immediately following Jim’s death, Ellie distracts herself with funeral preparations. In Chapter 2, she says, “I felt that if I stopped organizing, I might die too” (26). What begins as a way to cope with the immediate shock of losing her father turns into a months-long coping mechanism. Indeed, over the course of the chapters following, Ellie resists acknowledging her loss and thus owning her need to grieve her father and heal from her trauma.

Throughout the novel, Ellie’s...