Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses self-harm, substance use disorder, and suicide.

The grief that both main characters and secondary characters experience due to the death of Kate drives the novel’s conflict. Some deal with grief in healthy ways, such as Kate’s son, Lucas, who, though he acknowledges her death, speaks of her frequently. His actively remembering her serves to comfort him and, in keeping her memory alive, he can keep the sadness at bay. In time, Johnny Ryan can do this as well. His greatest struggle, it seems, is in filling the parenting role that Kate has vacated—he sometimes becomes frustrated that he lacks the skills she possessed; ultimately, though, the bond he has with his sons grows strong and ultimately the relationship between him and Marah is repaired. Kate’s mother, Margie, copes with grief by holding it inside and being a source of strength for others. She frequently reaches out in support to Tully or Marah and assists Johnny with his household where she can. It is not until the end of the novel when she reveals the sadness she has been masking to Dorothy, allowing Dorothy to comfort her.

Both Tully and Marah, however, choose to deal with their grief in ways that prove harmful and ineffective.