Loss

Alice Hoffman uses the fear of losing loved ones to show the importance of courage and the way in which fear affects a person’s actions. The Owens family curse is the source of the fear that plagues the members of the family constantly. That they each know that whomever they love will die colors their actions when it comes to finding a romantic partner. Susanna Owens shows her children that to escape the curse and the worry that accompanies it, one must forsake the possibility of having romantic love. That she has children who she obviously loves deeply shows that the curse is limited to those loved romantically by a member of the Owens family. That she chooses a marriage without passion after the death of the man she loved demonstrates how her grief for that loss and the fear of another affect her choices...