Scythe & Sparrow

“I look through the rest of her wallet inside her jacket but there’s not much to find […] Nothing that confirms or denies the twinge of intuition that creeps through my guts. At least, not until I replace her wallet inside her jacket and my fingers graze another card, one that’s loose in the interior pocket. Another driver’s license. One belonging to a man. Matthew Cranwell.”

When Fionn Kane discovers Matt Cranwell’s wallet amongst Rose’s belongings, he finds a link between the two characters, and this moment ignites his concern for Rose’s safety. The “twinge of intuition” that Fionn feels inspires him to attach himself to Rose, ensure her well-being, and invite her to stay at his home while she is recovering. Although Fionn maintains a serious demeanor, this passage hints at his softer side and innate empathy—traits that ultimately endear him to Rose.

“His words echo in my mind as though my subconscious is desperate to cling to them and make them real. But even thinking about how long just for right now could be has my chest tightening and my eyes stinging. I’ve been with Silveria for so long, I can almost convince myself that I’ve forgotten the other life I left behind. I was just a kid, only fifteen when I joined the tour. Silveria has been my home. My family.”

Rose experiences a physiological response when José Silveria informs her she cannot continue traveling with the circus with her current injury. Her “chest tighten[s]” and her eyes sting, and these physical reactions convey the intensity of her connection to the only true family and “home” that she has ever really known. Rose is attached to the circus both because it is familiar and because she does not yet belong anywhere else. This passage launches The Quest for Home and Belonging, which will compel her to reinvent herself in the world beyond the familiarity of the circus.

“Be tough. Be tough be tough be tough. You drive a fucking motorcycle in a metal cage in front of an audience of two hundred people in a goddamn circus. The fucking Globe of Death, for fucksakes. Don’t cry, Rose Evans. Don’t you fucking cry. I totally fucking cry.”

Rose’s internal monologue captures her intense emotional response to getting injured and facing the unknown after her hospital release. She repeatedly tells herself to “be tough” because she is accustomed to taking care of herself and burying her feelings in order to survive. Her overwrought use of expletives and the imperative tense creates an insistent, determined tone. However, this effect shatters in the passage’s final line, when Rose ultimately succumbs to the need to weep. The passage provides insight into Rose’s character and foreshadows her eventual efforts to show her vulnerability and ask for help.

“Now that she’s suddenly appeared, I realize how minimal my life has become. […] My only real socialization has been with Sandra and her club of crocheters every week, and that only started for me a few months ago. I guess that’s what I wanted when I moved here. Maybe not the crocheting, but the solitude. And yet, this is the first time I’ve wondered if I don’t want the result I’ve successfully achieved.”

Rose’s arrival at Fionn’s Hartford home disrupts his sense of home, belonging, and identity. Ever since he left his family and life in Boston, Fionn has curated an insular, “minimal” life that lacks any substantial forms of “socialization” and is defined by “solitude.” He has done this out of a need for self-preservation and a compulsion to atone for past wrongs. However, Rose’s arrival immediately challenges his limited lifestyle and forces him to reexamine his desires. His reflective tone in this passage foreshadows the fact that Rose will change him over the course of their relationship.

“Hands shaking, I turn back into the shadows and press my eyes closed. […] I’m a doctor, for fucksakes. I chose my profession specifically so that I could right the wrong I can never take back. I am a good man. Not a dangerous one. So what the fuck am I doing even thinking about killing a man I barely know? What the hell is wrong with me?”

Fionn’s self-critical tone in this passage establishes the novel’s focus on the quest for self-acceptance. In this moment, Fionn feels trapped between performing the part of the “good man” and succumbing to his more violent impulses. He wants to bury the “dangerous” person he used to be, but he struggles to do so because he has not yet confronted and reconciled with this version of himself. The passage conveys the internal, emotional work that Fionn has yet to complete on his broader journey toward healing.

“I’m not afraid of her. I’m afraid for her. And I think about that as I set my crochet project in my bag and slide into bed, chasing sleep. I don’t feel remorse. My last conscious thoughts are questions that have no answers. What if I’ve spent all these years trying to cultivate something within me that just doesn’t exist? What if I’m just as much of a monster as the man who made me?”

Fionn wrestles with questions of identity and morality along his journey towards self-acceptance. His stream of consciousness before falling asleep captures his fear of facing his true self. However, Rose’s proximity challenges him to engage in further self-reflection. For the first time since moving to Hartford, Fionn is examining himself in the context of another person, and he must therefore conduct a more thorough evaluation of his effect on others.

“She gets inside and pulls every loose thread, unraveling sutures through old wounds, opening them up to look inside. It’s as though she’s tearing my thoughts apart, stitch by stitch, until I don’t recognize the pattern of who I’m supposed to be.”

By employing a metaphor that puts his emotional experiences in the same terms that define his professional activities as a doctor, Fionn acknowledges that Rose “unravels” his haphazard attempts to heal the “sutures of “old wounds.” Because her approach forces him to reevaluate himself, it is clear that her influence helps Fionn to engage in a much more honest attempt to reckon with his fears and insecurities. She sees and understands Fionn in a way that he has never experienced before, and her insightful questions make Fionn feel as if his “stitches” are being torn or removed. By tugging at Fionn’s “sutures,” Rose compels him to become more vulnerable so that he can confront the tender, half-healed aspects of his inner world.

“The car slides away into the morning sun, as pretty as a sweet fairy-tale ending. […] For a flash, I can see it. My own fairy-tale ending. A quaint little house. A happy little life. My own little bit of magic. But it’s just that. A flash. A little trick. Because that’s a life not meant for someone like me.”

Rose’s fleeting moment of imagination reveals the truth of what she wants for her future. Watching Rowan and Sloane drive “away into the morning sun” makes her realize her heart’s desires. However, she immediately dismisses this “fairy-tale ending” because she has learned to deny herself happiness. The passage provides insight into Rose’s character while foreshadowing the happily ever after she’ll ultimately get with Fionn.

“What am I doing taking my patient to my bedroom? What am I doing fucking my friend? What am I doing—I swore I was going to stay away from relationships. A friendship is a relationship. There are rules in place, sure, but why the fuck am I not ending this before we start?”

The novel uses multiple contemporary romance tropes to define the parameters of Rose and Fionn’s relationship and to intensify the narrative atmosphere, including the forbidden love and forced proximity tropes. In this scene, Fionn actively wars against the barriers that threaten to keep him and Rose apart—which include their medical relationship and their living situation. The questions that he asks himself as he takes Rose “to [his] bedroom” mirror his harried state of mind and convey his desire to be with Rose despite the “rules in place.”

“The plane jostles a few more times in the heavy cloud, but we both settle with our hands in our laps. Maybe I’ve been wrong in thinking I’m the only one wondering what happens when my cast comes off and life can go back to normal. Maybe we both needed this reminder—that our usual lives still exist, even if we’re here outside our normal rhythm.”

The author uses figurative language, metaphor, and anaphora to convey the complexity of Rose and Fionn’s developing relationship. The new lovers are seated side by side on the airplane, but they’re flying through “heavy cloud[s]”—imagery that evokes notions of confusion and conflict. The plane’s movements also physically pull them apart so that their hands end up on their separate laps—an image that echoes the notion that they are separate people with lives beyond their sexual relationship.

“I glance down at my leg. The cast will be coming off when we get back to Hartford. And then it’ll be time to hit the road. Rejoin Silveria. Travel from town to town. Go back to what I know. What’s comfortable. But maybe it’s not so comfortable anymore. Maybe it feels a little tight. For all its benefits, especially for someone like me, the freedom of that nomadic life is sometimes just an illusion. Maybe things would be different if I stayed in Nebraska for a little while.”

In this passage, the author uses Rose’s internal monologue to further the novel’s focus on The Quest for Home and Belonging. Rose knows that her cast removal marks a turning point in her personal journey. However, she isn’t sure what lies on the other side of this metaphoric threshold. Her uncertainty is the result of her competing desires; part of her knows that she could return to “[w]hat’s comfortable,” but another part realizes that her “nomadic life” is no longer satisfying. Her thoughts therefore evoke a searching, questioning tone that conveys her attempts to understand herself.

“I got out. […] But it’s not enough to just be one of the lucky ones. Not when men like Matt or Eric or Chad will just find a next victim. Someone new to belittle and torture and sometimes even kill. Women like Lucy, or Naomi, or Chad’s girlfriend, Sienna? They need more than just an open door. They need a broken cage.”

Rose’s confession marks a turning point in her relationship with Fionn. This is the first time in the novel that Rose has fully explained her work as Sparrow. In this moment, she lets him into the most closely guarded aspects of herself, showing him her vulnerability and passion. Her declarative tone also conveys her investment in the cause of helping other women like herself to survive the ravages of abuse.

“God, I could live in this moment of anticipation forever. This moment when desire burns so bright that it could incinerate every rule and condition, if we just added a splash more gasoline to the fire. In this moment, there is no aftermath, no coming back to our senses. The only way out is to give in. Fuck the consequences.”

In this scene, Rose uses a vivid metaphor to convey her intense feelings for Fionn, equating her desire to be with Fionn to a “fire” that “could incinerate” every obstacle between them. This metaphor conveys the heat and destructive force of their connection. The narrative’s deliberately incendiary diction also conjures notions of the couple’s all-consuming passion, and Rose’s unbridled tone mirrors the intensity of her emotions whenever she is with Fionn.

“I admire her in a way I’ve never admired anyone, because it used to seem impossible to imagine what it would feel like to live that way. But she makes me think I could embrace myself and life the way she does.”

The admiring, respectful way that Fionn thinks about Rose captures the transformative significance of their relationship. Fionn enjoys being around Rose and also reveres her self-possession, and from her openness and honesty, he learns new ways of approaching life. The passage therefore develops the novel’s theme of The Redemptive Power of Love, implying that Fionn is already changing as a result of his and Rose’s romance.

“I’m not sure how long I stand there. How long it takes for it to sink into my marrow. But I finally realize I don’t care about the illusion of light anymore. My Rose blooms in the dark. And all I want is to grow there with her.”

Fionn’s contemplative tone in this passage captures the fact that Rose is teaching him to love and accept himself. Instead of obsessing over “the illusion of light”—a metaphor that evokes uncompromising notions of goodness and purity—Fionn decides to embrace the complexity and mystery of the metaphorical “dark,” responding to Rose’s love and reclaiming his true self.

“Death. My blood runs cold, as though it’s been drained from my limbs, leaving my skin chilled and my hair raised. Like any card, Death can mean many things. Transformation. Endings. Change needed for growth. But after the Knight of Swords…? I draw the final card. Four of Swords. Stillness. Pause. Mourning. Time spent recovering.”

Rose’s private tarot card drawing foreshadows the final sequences of the narrative. The allusions to “transformation,” “endings,” “change,” and “growth” foreshadow Rose and Fionn’s separation and the personal work that they will each have to do during this time. The allusions to “stillness,” “pause,” “mourning,” and “recovering” foreshadow their reunion and reconciliation in Ellsworth. Rose does not yet know what she and Fionn will explicitly face, but she relies on her tarot cards to give her direction and to emotionally prepare her for the challenges ahead.

“I’m drawing in her, swept away in a current I couldn’t escape if I wanted to. Her scent. Her taste. The more I take, the more I want. The more she gives, the more I need. I don’t know how I ever lived without the feel of her mouth on mine or the vibration of her moan on my lips.”

Fionn’s use of figurative and descriptive language, as well as sensory detail, conveys the full intensity of his and Rose’s first real kiss. The kiss sweeps Fionn away like a powerful “current,” conjuring images of water and notions of powerlessness. Fionn feels consumed by Rose, who is like a wave washing over him, submerging and renewing him.

“And you can’t tell Miss Evans. You wouldn’t want to put Rose of all people in danger, would you? Especially not when I’ll be trying to look after her best interests. The Sparrow is not the easiest person to keep out of trouble, after all.”

Leander Mayes uses a threatening tone to communicate the importance of the conditions that he is imposing on Fionn. He implies that Rose will be in danger if Fionn does not abide by his harsh terms—and the scene foreshadows Fionn’s decision to disappear from Rose’s life without explanation. Although he knows that doing so will break her heart, he decides that leaving her is the only way to “look after her best interests.”

“Though I hate the thought of making life harder for Fionn, I think the pain I feel now was worth it. It hurts because it was real. It’s how I know the truth. The only one that matters. I’m in love with Fionn Kane.”

Rose uses an assured tone in this passage in order to convey the confidence she feels in her love for Fionn. She doesn’t chastise herself for loving him; instead, she takes ownership of her emotions and assigns inherent value to them. Her outlook on this romance shows that she believes in The Redemptive Power of Love.

“‘This is Rose. And I fucking love her. I will not lose her. So here’s what we’re going to do.’ Oxygen. Heart rate. Blood pressure.”

Fionn’s declarative, assertive tone in this passage captures his devotion to Rose and articulates his desperation to help her survive. He uses short, simple sentences in order to communicate his feelings clearly, and as his narration breaks down into one- and two-word sentences, this deliberately fragmented style conveys his focus and determination.

“There isn’t a moment that goes by when I don’t think of you. And maybe you’ve let us go, maybe you’ve moved on. Maybe this is the only letter you’ll read. I have to accept that possibility might be true. Ultimately, all I want is for you to be happy, no matter what you need to do. But I am not done fighting for you.”

Fionn’s first letter to Rose conveys the depths of his love. Although he and Rose are physically separated, Fionn wants to remain connected to her despite their circumstances. He therefore uses letter-writing as a powerful tool to communicate his authentic feelings and remind Rose of how much she means to him. His linguistic and tonal certainty foreshadows the couple’s reunion at the novel’s conclusion.

“But you’re not yourself here anymore. You don’t seem excited to perform. You haven’t even set up your tarot tent since we started the tour.”

Rose and José’s heart-to-heart conversation compels Rose to reexamine her definition of home, and she must also decide where she belongs and who she wants to be. José uses a blunt tone as he remarks upon the changes that he has noticed in Rose’s recent behavior, and his approach reflects the parental affection that he feels for her. It is clear that he wants Rose to listen to her heart, and rather than pressuring her to stay with the circus, he encourages her to move on if this arrangement is no longer facilitating her happiness.

“There was pain and loss those last days we were together and in the ones since, you said. You worried about how I was feeling. But when I opened the letter and the card fell out, it was reversed. It means that the knives fall from the heart. Healing begins. That’s what your letter meant to me. Another stitch in a wound.”

Rose reads her letter aloud to Fionn to communicate her love for him. Her words reiterate the symbolic significance of the lovers’ letters, granting Rose and Fionn an organic, unbridled way to express their complex emotions. The images of knives falling from hearts and wounds being stitched capture the sense that love exposes people to pain while offering them a route toward greater redemption and healing.