Found family and belonging

One of the novel’s most persistent themes is the idea that family is not limited to blood. Instead, the book argues that the most life-defining bonds often arise between people who choose one another and who stay even when circumstances make staying difficult.

The four friends—Joar, Ted, Ali, and Kimkim—serve as the emotional core of this motif. Their connection is presented as fiercely loyal and profoundly shaping; each contributes something essential to the others’ survival and identity. Ted articulates this idea implicitly when he reflects on how deeply they belonged to one another, and Kimkim expresses it directly when he tells his father, “I love you and I trust you,” signaling that trust is an earned bond, not a default one (207).

The theme appears in adulthood as well, particularly in the way Louisa is absorbed into the fragmented constellation of...