The Tide Mill symbolizes the women’s past. Their friendship, their coming-of-age, and their complicity all take place in the ramshackle old Mill. Isa senses that the girls they once were now haunt the Tide Mill, saying “Here in this house, the ghosts of our former selves are real” (79). She experiences déjà vu multiple times at the Mill, seeing the images of her friends as teenagers overlaying the women they have become (139). In Tide Mill, Isa feels close to the past, and her memories affect her decisions. The Mill is a place out of time where past and present overlap. During high tide, the tide cuts off the Mill from the mainland, increasing this sense of both spatial and temporal isolation. When Isa is about to have sex with Luc, she feels no guilt because Luc and the Mill are part of her life before Owen. Isa lets herself sink “down into the past” (307). For Kate, the Mill is a “memorial to her father” (26), and her memories of the past chain her to the Mill.

As teenagers, the Mill is the backdrop for their coming-of-age experiences. In Isa’s mind, the Mill represents happiness and freedom.