Frances had issues with coping. She couldn’t cope with herself, with others and then when her brother dies she couldn’t cope that that either. Instead of hiding which was her normal coping mechanism she does the opposite and slowly starts to break out of her shell. Hard as that is, she learns a little about herself and the world around her. When her brother dies unexpectantly of a drug overdose she blames herself and later on she realizes she didn’t really know her brother as well as she thought she did. Living secluded, she begins to realize the things she has been missing out on and thinks about whether she should open up her life to other things. There is this mystery about Frances, she’s dark and I almost feel sorry for her boxed-in life. Her fear of being exposed to life makes you really think. Anyways, as she begins to open up and tries to come to terms of her brother’s death she pushes she own boundaries and when others start to push her back into the safety of her box, she starts to get upset. Just when she decides to change her view on life, others are not willing to accept the new Frances. Why is that? Why can’t her brother’s old girlfriend be more accepting of her? Can’t they all see she is trying to more outgoing and be more like her brother, Daniel? I had troubles getting started with this book, it just did not grab my attention. It wasn’t until Frances’ issues started to surfaced did I start to enjoy the book. The way Daniel’s thoughts and saying kept creeping into Frances’ head told a lot about how much Daniel meant to Frances. When Frances started to put the pieces together, I didn’t know if she still had some issues going on that needed to be addressed so the ending was quite a surprise to me.
