58 pages • 1 hour read
Ashley Herring BlakeDelilah Green Doesn't Care
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Facing and Reconciling With Family
Claire, Delilah, and Astrid all have complex family histories that shape their adult attitudes toward relationships, trust, and vulnerability. Herring Blake establishes early that the tension between Astrid and Delilah is inextricable from Delilah’s growing bond with Claire, while Claire’s romantic history with Josh is an obstacle to her happiness because it enhances her fears of abandonment and unworthiness. Ultimately, all three characters choose their love for each other as sufficient motivation to face their pasts and embrace a healthier future.
When the novel opens, Delilah and Astrid’s relationship is a hostile one, epitomized by Delilah’s “smirk at the way she’d saved her stepsister’s name in her contacts,” where it is spelled “Ass-trid” (2). When she arrives in Bright Falls, Delilah overhears Astrid complaining about her, brushing off her stepsister’s greeting with “We don’t have to do this” (38). For her part, Astrid declares to Claire and Iris, “I had to call her at two in the morning just to get her to talk to me” (39). Initially, this reads like petulant exhaustion, not necessarily evidence of attachment, in keeping with Astrid’s reserve. At this stage, both stepsisters are intentionally brusque and dismissive of each other. Later scenes hint that a rapprochement might be possible, as both Delilah and Astrid are horrified by the hideous decor in her hotel room, and Astrid brings Delilah coffee. Delilah rapidly brings this to an end with her bet about Claire, and the hostility only deepens when Delilah deliberately causes dramatic scenes like pushing Astrid’s fiancé into the river. Still, Delilah uses their shared past to point out that Spencer bears no resemblance to Astrid’s youthful romantic dreams. Astrid secretly betrays some of her exhaustion with her mother’s demands around the campfire, summing up her life with the insistence that she “be calm and poised and controlled and just say yes” (280). This reveals the sharp contrast between them: Delilah counters her invisibility in Isabel’s life with brashness and volubility, while Astrid is outwardly amenable but inwardly plagued with doubts.
Claire and Delilah’s blossoming relationship takes place in the background of both this family tension and Claire’s own fears of abandonment. Delilah recognizes this in Claire even before they know each other, capturing Claire’s heartbreak over Josh and turning it into artistic inspiration. Claire is always torn between her connection to Delilah and her fear, as “Claire [knows] too well what it [i]s like to love someone who c[a]n’t stay” due to her history with Josh (253). The intersecting traumas come to a head when Astrid discovers Delilah and Claire’s relationship and is clearly furious with them both. Confirming what Delilah read in her journals, Astrid insists that she wanted a relationship, while Delilah says that she thought her silence was “what [she] wanted” (323). Astrid ultimately chooses authenticity in the aftermath of her broken engagement, admitting to Claire that she was never honest about what she wanted or fully aware of Delilah’s own pain and struggles. Delilah, “tired and sore and wanting to be done with it” (352), accepts Astrid’s apology and offers one of her own, choosing resolution over resentment. By this time, Claire has learned that Josh has built a new house and business, proving to her that he will no longer be a source of pain in her life. Claire accepts his friendship, and he helps her see that she is in love with Delilah. Astrid becomes a key participant in Delilah and Claire’s reconciliation, setting up the photographs in the bookstore for Delilah and implicitly welcoming her back to Bright Falls. For both Delilah and Claire, recovering family relationships are key to their emotional freedom to pursue their romantic happy ending.
Creativity and Self-Discovery
Delilah’s artistic commitments are an essential part of her personality and character arc, as her art reveals central aspects of her emotional landscape that she otherwise conceals. Claire’s immediate appreciation for Delilah’s creative side is a crucial part of their connection as a couple, underlining Herring Blake’s demonstration that creativity is pivotal in finding self-acceptance and authenticity.
Early in the novel, Delilah decides to accept Astrid’s insistence that she photograph her wedding only as a means to an end: The funds will further her artistic ambitions, especially since it will take time for her show at the Whitney to yield financial benefit. She finds little comfort around her family, however, moving through the first wedding event and finding that her breathing becomes “quicker and more ragged as the moments pass[]” (86). Documenting a world she stands apart from causes Delilah’s anxiety and trauma to resurface. Later, she takes the vineyard trip as a welcome respite from event photography, finding herself able to enjoy time with Claire and Iris. Later, Delilah tells Claire the full story of her decision to pursue artistic photography based on the series of photos “beautiful and in pain in the river,” leading to her overall shift in focus to “queer women, turmoil, and water” (165). Delilah’s confession precipitates the couple’s first kiss, underlining that Claire appreciates Delilah’s vulnerability and her artistic commitments. Later, Delilah gently coaches Ruby through photography, reflecting that the two of them share a deliberate distance from the world to better capture what they see.
Though Claire is not an artist, Delilah brings out her more exuberant and playful side. When the two do tarot readings together, Claire finds herself openly admitting to her own desires, saying frankly, “Okay, so I’m extremely horny” (215). Claire also has creative ambitions of her own for the bookstore space, and Delilah appreciates her remodeling efforts so far, showing that the two of them truly respect each other’s vocations. The novel’s ending chapters reveal that Bright Falls has become part of Delilah’s creative process rather than an obstacle to it; she captures a self-portrait that she views as a “shocking calm amidst of natural cacophony,” which she titles Found (351). Delilah’s art demonstrates how love and connection have changed her, even before she openly accepts it. She uses her art to communicate her epiphany to Claire, hanging a series of photos and ending with one of the two of them. Claire instantly recognizes the love between them in the image, which helps her find the courage to accept Delilah’s proposal of a lasting partnership. Creativity and artistic rejuvenation are thus key to personal fulfillment and a healthier relationship with the past.
Love as Security and Healing
All the major characters are plagued by doubt and insecurity about themselves, their work, and their romantic lives. Herring Blake uses both romantic love and other forms of intimacy to demonstrate that it is only through connection that people can overcome their insecurities and find their most fulfilling futures.
In the work’s opening chapters, Delilah’s lifestyle is detached and uncertain. It’s slowly revealed that she feels unsure if her art’s online success will translate to advancement within the art world, a self-doubt spurred on by childhood feelings of inadequacy. She finds it particularly difficult to maintain her artistic ambitions in the face of the emotional challenge of Bright Falls, even after receiving good news about the art show. She does not tell Astrid about her show at the Whitney, and this professional triumph does little to allay the insecurity she feels when Astrid suggests that Claire would never be interested in her. This results in Delilah proposing a bet, with herself as the winner of Claire’s affections—effectively treating her as a pawn in a revenge scheme. This effort soon becomes more complicated in the face of Claire’s kindness; the attention offered by Claire helps Delilah realize that “for the first time since her father died, [she] ha[s]n’t felt alone in Wisteria House” (127). Later, after Delilah confesses that Astrid never wanted a relationship with her, Claire says that she cannot change the past. Given the chance to know Delilah, though, she says, “I want to know” (236). Delilah is similarly empathetic about Claire’s stress over Josh, her support a “caring offer, spoken while her arms slid[e] around Claire’s waist” (259). This series of loving actions opens Delilah and Claire up to the possibility of a relationship, revealing that a sense of security and support is what they both truly need to heal from their pasts and build a future romantically.
The novel’s climax demonstrates that accepting love will be key to every character’s major growth. Astrid breaks up with Spencer on her own terms but turns to Claire and Iris for comfort, admitting that her engagement has made her question her ability to make decisions without consulting her mother. Iris and Claire reassure her, creating a catharsis of “relieved tears running down all of their cheeks” (303). In the aftermath of Delilah’s departure, Josh shows Claire his new house, gently urging her to recover from the pain he has caused and choose Delilah. Claire later realizes that her pain over Delilah’s departure was valid but also that Delilah “had come back for her” (363). Delilah further assures Claire that her love was key to Delilah’s new relationship with Bright Falls, along with her other repaired relationships. Love functions as the antidote to loneliness and self-doubt, allowing Delilah and Claire to choose each other.
