Friendship and Codependence

With two main characters who are strongly devoted friends, it’s no surprise that friendship should be one of the primary themes of the novel. The author goes farther, however, than just an exploration of friendship, and asks the question of where the boundary lies between a healthy friendship and an unhealthy codependence. Whereas friendship involves two independent people providing loving support for each other, codependence means a dependence on the other person’s well-being that can mean an individual supporting another out of self-interest, because their personal happiness cannot exist without the other person’s.

The friendship between Sofia and Antonia is introduced immediately, in the novel, with the second sentence of Book 1 telling us that “[Sofia] is best friends with Antonia Russo, who lives next door” (5). In Book 1, the girls go from school-age children to preteens, spending all of their time together...