From the beginning of the novel, Charlotte is obsessed with finding a family of her own. She can hardly be faulted since her biological family has proven so unstable. Her mother abandoned her, her father was in prison, and her grandmother died, so Charlotte has no support group to turn to. In addition, she has been placed with five foster families, none of whom wanted to keep her. Charlotte leaps at the chance to join WITSEC because it represents a clean start, but she fails to realize that she’s being placed in yet another situation that amounts to a facade. She becomes a fake component of a fake family but does so because she has been assured that they won’t be allowed to turn her back over to the system.

Charlotte isn’t the only character whose family experience is less than authentic. Harriet echoes Charlotte’s troubled biological family: Born into a criminal dynasty, she grows up with the expectation that she’ll participate in the family business. As a lawyer, she draws up contracts to further the Cercatore protection racket. Because Harriet possesses a conscience, she can no longer stomach being part of the family’s criminal empire and testifies against them. Fortunately, her husband supports her decision even though their son is unhappy about the consequences.