Content Warning: This section discusses parental abuse and ableism.

Shirin and Remy’s strained relationship forms the central conflict of the novel, and the narrative tension revolves around exploring the reasons for and resolving the conflict. Over the course of this resolution, Umrigar examines the way family relationships and roles are rarely black and white. There are layers that make up these complicated dynamics due to intergenerational rifts and changing dynamics of care and dependency within the family structure, and Remy’s journey involves understanding this. Umrigar suggests that people should seek to understand each other in family rifts to unpeel these layers and heal.

The first hint of how complicated family relationships can be is the stark difference between how Remy remembers Shirin and how he and Shirin behave toward each other in the present. In the opening pages of the novel, Remy dreads meeting Shirin. His negative feelings toward Shirin are qualified by his memories of his childhood peppered throughout the narrative, with incidents detailing the rejection and verbal and physical abuse he endured at her hands. This is contrasted by the deep love and closeness he shared with Cyrus. However, finding Shirin unwell and vulnerable evokes feelings of tenderness and concern, suggesting that there was some maternal love and bonding in his childhood.