Scythe & Sparrow

As Rose Evans and Fionn Kane navigate the ramifications of their unlikely first meeting, the author employs her usual approach of alternating perspectives from chapter to chapter in order to convey a deeper sense of each protagonist’s private thoughts and fears. At the onset of the novel’s inciting event, it is clear that neither Rose nor Fionn expects to cross paths; Rose is only temporarily in town with the Silveria Circus, while Fionn is immersed in his mundane responsibilities in Hartford, Nebraska. Their encounter at Fionn’s clinic disrupts their respective senses of normalcy and thrusts them both into a new domestic and relational situation.

Because the author uses the forced proximity trope to ignite and intensify Rose and Fionn’s relationship, the setting of Fionn’s house becomes instrumental in launching the novel’s thematic explorations of The Quest for Home and Belonging and The Redemptive Power of Love. As Rose recovers from her broken leg in Fionn’s home and tries to avoid another run-in with Matt Cranwell, this arrangement compels both protagonists to occupy the same space and forces them to get to know one another. In the confines of Fionn’s domestic sphere, Rose and Fionn begin to open up to one another, cautiously engaging with this unfamiliar form of intimacy and slowly changing their expectations for their path in life.

At the beginning of the novel, both Rose and Fionn live solitary lives because they are trying to distance themselves from their pasts and avoid all hints of intimacy with others. For example, although Rose believes that she has a “home with Silveria Circus” (8), it is clear that this home is not defined by stability or security. Instead, Rose’s very existence revolves around constant movement. The circus grants Rose the illusion of freedom because she is always on the road, but her constant activity allows her to ignore the fact that this frenetic lifestyle is a self-defense mechanism and a way for her to avoid confronting her trauma. In her mind, she can always escape from one bad relationship or experience because her work takes her from place to place. 

Notably, although Fionn does not move from city to city as Rose does, his habits are similarly lonely and avoidant. Ever since he moved away from his brothers, his job, and his home in Boston, Fionn has cultivated a “minimal” and “monochrome” lifestyle consisting of nothing but “work. Gym. More gym and more work” (52). He relies on his routines for stability and shuns social interactions, not realizing that these lifestyle choices alienate him from the world just as surely as Rose’s travel-based choices alienate her. While Fionn hides himself in work to stave off intimate connections, Rose uses the road to do the same. Taken together, these parallel behaviors illustrate that the characters’ unlooked-for relationship will help them to grow and evolve. Thus, when Rose moves into Fionn’s house, both characters begin to change their sense of home and belonging, love and connection. Rose isn’t used to staying in one place, while Fionn isn’t used to having company. Even so, Rose is a new, unpredictable variable in his life, and his agreement to help Rose offers her some much-needed stability. Because the two protagonists present each other with the prospect of unknown territory, they aren’t sure “[w]here [they] are headed,” but they are “sure it will be an adventure” (82).

Rose’s devotion to protecting women in abusive relationships complicates Fionn’s understanding of her, altering how he regards himself in the context of their relationship. For example, Rose shows no qualms about using violence with the intention to do a “good” deed. Faced with her willingness to kill for specific reasons, Fionn is surprised by her dichotomous nature because he recognizes these same dichotomies in himself. In the series’ previous two novels, Fionn is revealed to have worked as a contract killer with his brothers Lachlan and Rowan. In Scythe & Sparrow, however, Fionn has cast off that violent lifestyle in order to prove to himself that he is “a good man” (70). He has tried to cultivate only the moral and upstanding facets of himself by focusing on healing instead of hurting others. However, upon meeting Rose, he is forced to wonder if his true nature contains both good and evil, just as Rose’s nature clearly does.

From the very beginning, the author contrasts Rose’s willingness to use violent means to achieve benevolent ends with Fionn’s attempts to escape the wanton violence of his own past. As the pair’s connection grows, these conflicting issues combine to highlight the novel’s thematic focus on Achieving Self-Acceptance through Supportive Relationships. Both characters want to be decent people, but their definitions of decency diverge significantly. Rose believes that her willingness to attack Matt and kill Eric is evidence of her inherently moral nature; she is a survivor of domestic violence, and in her mind, she is protecting other women from experiencing similar trauma. By contrast, Fionn is trying to convince himself that any physical violence is synonymous with moral depravity. The internal battles that the characters face in these early chapters suggest that they both have considerable work to do before they are fully comfortable with who they are. Notably, the closing scene in Chapter 8 eloquently captures the overlapping aspects of their respective journeys toward self-discovery. Although Fionn is now complicit in Rose’s murder of Eric, the two protagonists do not openly discuss their course of action. This relational dynamic shows their parallel work to confront and claim their own identities.