Finding Grace

When Tom Wharton loses his wife Honor Wharton and daughter Chloe Wharton, he is thrust into a prolonged period of sorrow, grief, and longing. Through his journey over the course of the novel, Rothschild explores the nature of loss and what a person needs to move beyond their grief.

After Honor and Chloe’s deaths in the Ritz Paris bombing, Tom is confronted with an impossible new reality. The detailed descriptions of his home when he returns to London in Chapter 2 convey how death and grief disfigure Tom’s sense of truth, security, and self. He moves through the space, observing his late wife’s and daughter’s belongings as if he is inside a shrine, and ultimately ends up “huddled on the bathroom floor, gripping the lid of [Honor’s] perfume, alternating between thoughts of murder or suicide, wishing that he’d been standing beside us and that the last thing he’d seen on this earth were my eyes and Chloe’s button nose” (32). Tom’s suicidal ideation and homicidal impulses convey the intensity of his despair. He is experiencing survivor’s guilt and does not know how to cope with his shame and despair. He clutches Honor’s perfume bottle because it is a vestige of his late wife and a way for him to retain a connection with her. Honor and Chloe are physically absent from the house, but their memories haunt the space, consigning Tom to a future steeped in constant reminders of the past.

Tom’s resistance to acknowledging his grief is a sign of his denial. Even four years after Honor’s and Chloe’s deaths, Tom has done little to confront and move past his loss. His avoidant behaviors—including storing all of their belongings in the basement and constantly telling his friends he is fine—convey his fear of fully letting go of his late loved ones. He is still unwilling to fully accept what happened, which ultimately stalls his healing process. Although inevitable and universal, death proves to be an impossible reality for Tom to face. The same is true of his regard for grief: “He knew first-hand that ‘the stages of grief’ were a myth. It was disobedient and unruly. This was grief—being hit from the side by unexpected turbulence” (174). Grief does not behave or manifest predictably for Tom. At times, he is angry or volatile, as in the pram-shopping scene. At other times, he is dismissive, as in the scene where he tells his friends he doesn’t want to date and is fine being alone. For Tom, grief is both mysterious and all-encompassing. While he genuinely wants to experience joy and goodness—particularly with and for Henry—he also fears that Honor’s and Chloe’s deaths will forever threaten to undo him. Ultimately, he starts to pursue real healing when he acknowledges his sorrow and shame to confidantes like Grace Stone and Colette. These displays of vulnerability usher Tom towards renewal. Although grief manifests differently for each individual, the novel suggests that everyone needs love and support to navigate loss.