The Love of My Life

Emma constantly checks on Ruby’s breathing throughout the novel. Why does she do that? What does it say about her strengths and weaknesses as a mother? How does it explore the theme of The Emotional, Physical, and Mental Impact of Motherhood? How does it relate to Emma’s experiences with Charlie as an infant?

The author introduces John Keats, a dog who needs to listen to music to soothe his nerves. Why does Walsh introduce the dog? What purpose does he serve in the overall plot? What does the way in which Leo and Emma treat the dog say about their characters? Their parental nature?

A man in a baseball hat is often seen watching Emma in the first half of the novel. Why does Walsh use this man to increase the tension in the novel? What is implied by how he watches her and how she and Leo react to his presence? When it is revealed that this person was Charlie, how does it contrast with how she often spied on Charlie and the Rothschilds in the first few years after Charlie’s birth?

Leo breaks a promise he made to Emma by writing her obituary. Why does he do this? How does this broken promise contrast with the lies Emma told Leo to keep the truth of Charlie’s birth and adoption from him? Is it ever okay to lie to a partner or break a promise? Why or why not?

Adoption is a motif in the story that impacts all the main characters. Leo learns he was adopted as an adult while he’s dating Emma. How does he respond? Why does he react the way he does? Why does Emma use this episode as an excuse not to tell Leo about Charlie and his adoption? How does Charlie’s adoption and Emma’s subsequent behavior cause Janice fear and lead to her attempted suicide? How do Charlie’s birth and adoption cause Jill to suffer guilt?

At one point in the novel, both Janice and Emma disappear. What leads to each of their disappearances? Why is Janice’s disappearance public news? How does it draw Emma back into the Rothschilds’ lives? Why does Emma disappear? Compare and contrast each woman’s actions regarding their disappearances.

Janice fights for years to become a mother, but infertility issues force her to turn to adoption. Emma, too, has infertility issues but eventually has a biological child. Why would Walsh choose to give both women these issues? How do their issues compare? Do these issues make Emma more sympathetic to Janice’s situation? Why or why not?

Walsh presents two couples, Leo and Emma and Jeremy and Janice. How does she compare these two couples? How does she highlight their differences? How do their similarities and differences impact the themes of the novel as well as the development of the plot?