The Fire Alarm

The fire alarm at the Grande Lucia forces Alice and Hayden out into the night, symbolizing the abrupt collisions that shake them from guarded isolation into uneasy connection.

The Fall of the House of Ives

The unauthorized biography embodies Margaret’s loss of control over her own story, a physical reminder of how her family’s truth has been rewritten by others.

The Labyrinth

The labyrinth signifies inevitability and moral entrapment because every route leads inward toward the same painful truth.

The Mosaic Nicollet

The mosaic Nicollet signifies the artistic inheritance and the transformation of secrecy into beauty.

The Beach

The beach scenes, especially in Chapters 17–18, symbolize emotional exposure and transience: a liminal space where Alice and Hayden shed professional restraint but remain aware that tides—like truth—can shift and erase boundaries as easily as they form them.

The Quilt

The neon-and-lavender quilt...