“The week after Owen disappeared, I had a dream of him standing in that parking lot. He was wearing the same suit—the same charmed smile. In the dream he was taking off his wedding ring. Look, Hannah, he said. Now you’ve lost me too.” 

This passage appears in the Prologue and establishes the central mystery of the novel: Owen’s disappearance. It is also a reflection of Hannah’s personal history, which included losing both of her parents and her beloved grandfather. When Owen vanishes, Hannah is unwilling to also lose her stepdaughter Bailey; that conviction drives all Hannah’s actions and decisions in the aftermath of uncovering Owen’s past life.

“Sausalito is on the other side of the Golden Gate from San Francisco, but a world away from city life. Quiet, charming. Sleepy.” 

Sausalito is the crucible in which Hannah finds herself dealing with Owen’s disappearance. While the town is appealing on many levels, it is also a place that doesn’t easily accept outsiders—which Hannah knows from personal experience—nor does it allow someone to remain anonymous the way a large city like New York or Los Angeles does. When the news about Owen’s company breaks, the “walls” of Sausalito start closing, and Hannah feels watched and judged by her neighbors.

“But, when I look back now, I think my mother did me a favor exiting the way she did—without apology, without vacillation. At least she made it clear: There was nothing I could have done to make her want to stay.”

This is Hannah’s view of her childhood and her mother’s abandonment, told from the perspective of more than 30 years’ remove. It suggests Hannah has come to terms with some of the trauma she faced and has looked for any positive aspect in what must have been a terribly painful time. This passage hints at Hannah’s mental and emotional strength, which she will need in order to make the right decision for Bailey.