Eleanor “Elle” Bishop

Eleanor “Elle” Bishop is the main character and narrator. She is the wife of Peter and the mother of Jack, Maddy, and Finn. Elle comes from a family that has a history of failed marriages. Her childhood was impacted negatively by her parents’ divorce.

Elle spends the majority of the narration trying to determine if she is going to stay with her husband, or leave him and explore a relationship with Jonas, a man she has loved since she was a child. Elle works through her past experiences, like her father’s broken promises not to choose a wife over his children and her mother’s frequent flirting with Elle’s husband, to help the reader understand what forces lie behind her decision.

At the conclusion of the novel, Elle does not clearly define what decision she has made. She spends time with her children the...