Hollow Bones

The red ribbon serves as a motif of The Cost of Family Secrets. Initially, Eloise wears the ribbon in her braid so that her husband, Adam, can always find her in a crowd. This function becomes deeply ironic when she uses the 9/11 attacks to disappear, severing that very connection. For 25 years, Molly wears a red ribbon as a tribute to the mother she believes died in the towers. The ribbon, for Molly, becomes a cornerstone of an identity constructed around a lie. 

The motif’s meaning develops upon Eloise’s return. When Molly finally learns the truth about her mother’s departure and her own identity is shattered, she stops wearing the ribbon, signifying the loss of the idealized mother she had worshipped. However, the ribbon isn’t permanently discarded. At the end of the novel, Molly and her daughter, Adie, both wear and leave ribbons at the 9/11 Memorial. Instead of representing a falsehood or a tragic loss, the motif now reflects a reclaimed and truthful bond. The motif’s final appearance, the ribbons that Eloise’s daughter and granddaughter offer as a tribute to her, shows a complicated but authentic love that has been tested by trauma and deception but ultimately endures.