The plethora of parental secrets dramatically affect Vivian’s and Lucy’s respective lives, choices, and worldviews. Vivian feels that her father never fully approved of her, and the resulting tension came to a head when she confronted him about his “other family” on Father’s Day, hours before he died of a heart attack. In her own life, she continues to seek male approval, and this pattern is implied to be a result of her fraught dynamic with her father. Likewise, Lucy has emotionally internalized the marginalizing experience of being Hank’s “other” daughter: the one whom he relegated to a single month out of each year. Though Lucy is the older sister, Vivian enjoys the superior position of being Hank’s “full-time” child, and as a result, Lucy spends her life doubting her own value and giving up too much of herself in her efforts to earn the love of others. In short, the impact of parental secrets has dramatically affected the trajectory of both women’s lives.

As a child, Vivian possessed an innocence that her parents didn’t want to take away. When Vivian asks Celeste why she said nothing about Lucy’s existence, her mother tells her, “Because…it wasn’t your business. You had a fabulous childhood. I didn’t want to ruin it” (46). This decision to hide the family’s real situation ultimately made it even more difficult for Vivian to learn the truth. Due to her sheltered upbringing, Vivian once “believed in Cinderella and Prince Charming and happily-ever-afters,” but when she overheard Hank’s phone conversation with Lucy one day, this event “popped those delusions like a needle would a balloon” (250). As a result of her parents’ dishonesty, the young Vivian distrusted Hank and distanced herself from him, suspecting that he had lied to her because of some deficiency in her own character as well as his. After their disastrous brunch on Father’s Day, she feared that she misinterpreted that phone call and ruined their relationship for no reason. Then, when Hank died later that day, she internalized the blame. Later, she reflects that if he had been more open, she would have developed greater self-esteem and maintained a more loving relationship.

Vivian is not the only one who suffers from Hank’s secrets, as Lucy must contend with the marginalization that comes from being the daughter born out of wedlock. Because she was limited to summertime meetings with Hank so that he could maintain the separation between his two families, she felt less worthy of love than Vivian. Once she meets her half-sister, the “childhood fantasy” of them being “platonic soulmate[s]” is also shattered (23). She feels as though she gave everything to her father and got crumbs in return, and she develops a similar dynamic with Patrick in her adult life. Only when she finally gets angry at the selfishness of the men in her life does she grow beyond the need to depend on their opinions of her. Instead, she determines her own self-worth.

Notably, Dawn’s and Celeste’s secrets impact Lucy and Vivian as profoundly as Hank’s do. Vivian is angry with Celeste for playing the role of “the doting wife whose love was strong enough to withstand an affair” when Celeste’s decision to hide Dawn’s initial letter to Hank shows her willingness to sacrifice the happiness of others for her own purposes (360). Likewise, when Lucy learns more about Dawn’s actions from 30 years ago, she thinks that “[i]t’s an awful story, but Dawn isn’t blameless” because she chose to hide vital aspects of Lucy’s life and origin story (243). It is painful for both daughters to understand that their mothers kept secrets for their own reasons, but as the four women reconcile, Dawn and Celeste deepen their respective mother-daughter relationships by sharing the whole truth.