I have good friends that are honest with me. Here is what Kina said after reading my review:
"I think you got it all wrong about Maeve...Also about Danny...you missed it man!!!
Maeve is the one who could never leave the past and pulls down Danny with her. And the only one who actually finds balance between the future and the past is May, Danny's daughter, and that is why the book ends so so beautifully. It didn't even matter that Danny became a doctor. It's that Danny repeats the same history as his father. And Maeve is the same, she can't move beyond her past, and that is why when her mother symbolically "leaves her" again to work for the step mom, Maeve can't handle it, and dies. There was never any hope for Maeve. There was for Danny. That hope died in that perfect scene when the author was talking about Danny's wife's golden curls and then suddenly "he couldn't see them anymore" or something to that effect. And then the next page, they got a divorce. Danny's wife represented the future. That's why she was physically the exact opposite of Maeve and why they hated each other so much. The only one who had hope, and took it, was May. She could live both in the shadow, and the light. That's why the last scene is so beautiful. When Danny comes to the house and sees May in the dark shadows of the house, but then she steps into the light and also resembles her mother...
The theme of light and dark and cyclical behavior was woven into the story so beautifully.
And even the classic reference to Cinderella was fantastic.
And also, the concept that Maeve was a mother to all but had no mother.
Oh, and the order of who entered the house and who exited was amazing.
And the painting! Don't even get me started. So so so well done with its symbolism.
I have good friends that are honest with me. Here is what Kina said after reading my review:
"I think you got it all wrong about Maeve...Also about Danny...you missed it man!!!
Maeve is the one who could never leave the past and pulls down Danny with her. And the only one who actually finds balance between the future and the past is May, Danny's daughter, and that is why the book ends so so beautifully. It didn't even matter that Danny became a doctor. It's that Danny repeats the same history as his father. And Maeve is the same, she can't move beyond her past, and that is why when her mother symbolically "leaves her" again to work for the step mom, Maeve can't handle it, and dies. There was never any hope for Maeve. There was for Danny. That hope died in that perfect scene when the author was talking about Danny's wife's golden curls and then suddenly "he couldn't see them anymore" or something to that effect. And then the next page, they got a divorce. Danny's wife represented the future. That's why she was physically the exact opposite of Maeve and why they hated each other so much. The only one who had hope, and took it, was May. She could live both in the shadow, and the light. That's why the last scene is so beautiful. When Danny comes to the house and sees May in the dark shadows of the house, but then she steps into the light and also resembles her mother...
The theme of light and dark and cyclical behavior was woven into the story so beautifully.
And even the classic reference to Cinderella was fantastic.
And also, the concept that Maeve was a mother to all but had no mother.
Oh, and the order of who entered the house and who exited was amazing.
And the painting! Don't even get me started. So so so well done with its symbolism.