“The air smells of the salty gulf, of my past. Even though I’ve only crossed one state line, I feel like I need a passport to be here.”

Setting is important in this novel. Broken Bayou, although fictional, reflects the complex small-town politics and socio-economic decline that, in this novel’s view, characterize many rural communities in Louisiana. Additionally, the town is the site of many of Willa’s long-buried secrets, and much of the novel’s suspense and foreshadowing will focus on The Psychological Impact of Secrets on individuals and families.

“Accepting good fortune was the hardest thing for me to learn, and I still slip.”

Willa is intelligent, successful, and competent, and she has spent many years unpacking her dysfunctional childhood. In many ways, she feels as though she has left the pain of these years behind her, but there are moments when the past comes back to haunt her. She is still sometimes surprised by her own success and cannot accept the idea that she grew up and moved on and that she deserves happiness.

“Amy and I bonded because of our mothers, hers an alcoholic and mine bipolar.”

Willa is a character defined in part by her struggles with mental health conditions and family dysfunction. She is drawn to people with similar backgrounds, both in her personal and professional lives. Professionally, she works with troubled children and their families, and many of her friends and even her love interests have their own complex and even traumatic pasts.