Every Vow You Break: A Novel

As the novel’s protagonist, Abigail Baskin, is a dynamic and round character whose journey is defined by a search for stability, a tendency toward self-sabotage, and a rediscovery of her own resilience. At the story’s outset, Abigail is motivated by a deep-seated insecurity stemming from her parents’ recent financial and marital failures and the emotional exhaustion of her previous long-term relationship. She feels “hollowed out, purposeless” (21) and craves the security that the wealthy Bruce Lamb seems to offer. She consciously chooses his stability over the chaotic passion of her past, admitting she is marrying him for the “personality traits that make him rich” (17). This decision marks a departure from the confident, assertive person she was in her youth, a “firecracker” (54) who fought for others, to a passive “passenger” (56) in the life Bruce constructs for her, trading her agency for the promise of a secure future.

Despite her longing for stability, Abigail is prone to impulsive acts that threaten the very security she seeks. Her one-night stand with the man she knows as “Scottie” is born from a lingering doubt about her marriage, an admission that she is only “ninety-nine-point-ninety-nine, really” (5) percent sure.