Rae Lynn Cobb

Rae Lynn Cobb is one of the novel’s two main characters. Rae Lynn is an orphan who spends the majority of her life at an orphanage. Seven years prior to the narrative present, she marries a man named Warren Cobb. Warren is a 40-year-old widower. He is not the sort of man that Rae Lynn imagined herself creating a life with. However, over the course of their courtship, Rae Lynn realizes that being with Warren allows her to hope in “the idea of having her own little family” (18). The life that they create together at Warren’s house grants her the first sense of home and belonging she has ever felt. However, when Rae Lynn is just 25 years old, Warren suffers an accident that causes him internal damage. He begs her to put him out of his misery. She finally agrees, and shoots him.

After...