Mother-Daughter Relationship

Victoria, the main character, was abandoned by her mother at birth, and her father is never mentioned. The way the story is structured, it's clear that the abandonment led to serious emotional abandonment issues that pervade Victoria's character in the book. The most important effect of Victoria's abandonment is the complications it produces in her relationship with Grant, her romantic partner, and her own daughter, Hazel. But there is also a complex mother-daughter relationship between Victoria and Elizabeth, her foster mother (between ages 9 and 10), that is a source of complexity in the book.

Victoria and Elizabeth's relationship began with the terms set by Elizabeth. Elizabeth clearly loved Victoria and wanted their relationship to work. While not always perfect, she did the best she knew how to do so. She focused attention on Victoria and advocated for her. She respected Victoria's boundaries but worked to develop a relationship...