Mental Health

Mental health is one of the most important themes of the novel, centered around Julia’s crisis of depression and anxiety and her subsequent recovery. Julia had always been a melancholy child, but after Olga’s death this suddenly worsens. She has periods of insomnia and frequent nightmares, including such traumatic images as Olga’s appearance at the breakfast table, bloodied from her accident. In her grief, Julia’s anxiety slips beyond her control: “My mind usually wanders and gets lost in a tangle of worries” (20). Poor marks at school, even on small quizzes and tests, send her into spiralling fits of pessimism about her future. She feels panicked in large groups of people or small spaces and she cannot focus in situations with any pressure involved, including exams. Julia’s depression also slowly worsens over the first year of the novel, especially when Am...