One of the Girls

The villa is the novel’s primary setting and a symbol of isolation, memory, and confrontation, emphasizing Secrets as Bond and Solvent and The Pressure of Patriarchal Gender Norms. It has a striking appearance that some find beautiful but others find unsettling: “stone-white with a Greek-flag-blue roof. It stood like a crown on the clifftop, reigning over a tiny, jeweled cove below” (9). This description establishes it as a regal and imposing presence, overlooking both beauty and danger. The stone walls are literal barriers and emotional ones; some, like Robyn, find them grounding; others, like Ana, feel trapped. Its seclusion (with only one road in and surrounded by nature) intensifies the emotional tension between the women, who bring their secrets and unresolved conflicts with them.

For Fen, the villa becomes personified: “Stepping into the cool expanse, the villa greeted her with its familiar chalky breath” (19), implying both comfort and trauma. These walls both conceal and expose, as pivotal truths are revealed within and around them, including Lexi’s pregnancy, Ana’s betrayal, and Ed’s abuse. The villa holds the psychological weight of their experiences. Lexi fears letting Ed inside the villa, as if his presence would contaminate the space, throwing off its precarious emotional equilibrium. The villa also becomes the scene of the final confrontation and Ed’s death, a place of both revelation and revenge. Like the women themselves, the villa is beautiful on the outside but filled with complexities and hidden vulnerabilities. It’s a sanctuary, a prison, and a source of transformation.

Superficial beauty is a recurring motif, exposing how internal insecurities are magnified by The Pressure of Patriarchal Gender Norms. The women constantly observe and judge one another’s appearances. Eleanor fixates on Lexi’s face, “as if beauty were something mathematical you could work out, solve” (47), reflecting a cultural obsession with symmetry and perfection. Lexi, who seems to match conventional beauty standards effortlessly, becomes an object of both admiration and resentment. Bella, always polished and styled, even at the pool, embodies performative femininity. Robyn turns her back while applying sunscreen, uncomfortable with her body. Fen carries traumatic memories, recalling a man—Nico—who once called her “disgusting,” which affects her relationship with food. Fen’s eventual confrontation with Nico reflects her rejection of these pressures, as does Robyn’s decision to embrace love over guilt. Lexi articulates this growth: “It’s not the wanting that’s the problem. It’s the permission-seeking” (287), rejecting the need to appease others. In a moment of clarity, she reflects, “Maybe we all need to stop trying to meet everyone else’s expectations—and just meet our own” ( 289).

The sculpture is a symbol representing changing identity and The Pressure of Patriarchal Gender Norms. It was created by Eleanor as a gift for Lexi and immortalizes her as a dancer, preserving a part of her life she’s now leaving behind. When Lexi touches the bronze figure, it creates a longing for a world she once knew: “The bronze was cool beneath her fingertips as she traced her enraptured mouth. Sometimes she still craved the applause of an audience, the glitter of a stage outfit, the party afterwards, the effervescence of adrenaline sparkling” (75). The statue reflects her former life of artistry, performance, and recognition, a sharp contrast to the domestic future she faces now.

The sculpture’s destruction represents a symbolic breaking open of the truth. While it used to represent Lexi’s power and grace, it becomes the key object in the story’s climax and the perfect alibi. Everyone agrees Ed died trying to retrieve it. The sculpture thus holds multiple associations: Lexi’s past, Eleanor’s love and regret, Ed’s rage, and the women’s collective decision to protect one another. The sculpture is both beautiful and broken, and ultimately a catalyst for change.

Food is a key motif in the novel, as each character’s relationship with food reflects her deeper emotional state, such as Fen’s body image issues, Bella’s obsession with looking good even while eating, and the performative aspects of femininity tied to food and appetite. Communal meals enact the theme of Secrets as Bond and Solvent, as truths surface and tensions build around the table. Eleanor, in particular, engages with food almost erotically, taking pleasure in textures, rituals, and presentation. Slicing a watermelon after learning of Ana’s betrayal, her relationship with food darkens:

She lifted a watermelon from the fruit bowl. Steadying it between her hands, she felt the perfect curve, the dense weight as heavy as a human head. Finding a knife, she pressed its cool tip into the skin, pushing deeper, feeling the moment of give when the knife slid easily into the flesh, splitting it open like a red wound, juices leaking. She made a second incision, removing the wedge, which looked like a grinning, bloody smile (251).

The violent imagery as she slices a watermelon signals Eleanor’s emotional unraveling and foreshadows the violence to come.