“When we bought our house in 2005, my husband, James, became obsessed with the osprey couple, with the magic of their annual return to the same location. He was always anxious, waiting to see if they would appear, if they would produce eggs, if the eggs would survive raccoons and crows, our local predators. Every year, he celebrated when the juveniles flew for the first time.”

The ospreys that nest on Belle Burden and James’s Martha’s Vineyard property are symbols of family, constancy, and life cycles. Burden opens with this description of the birds to illustrate how she connected the birds to her relationship with her husband. James’s obsession “with the osprey couple” reinforced Burden’s belief in him as a father and a husband; he appreciated the birds because he saw himself as the male bird—always there to protect the female and babies from predators. This passage foreshadows James’s shocking decision to leave Burden and the children, literally and figuratively leaving them exposed to danger.

“I tried to sleep but couldn’t. I felt leaden with dread. […] I could not place what had happened with what I knew of my husband, a kind and mild man, a devoted husband and father. I hadn’t drawn the curtains, so I saw the sun rise over the lake. I could tell it would be a beautiful day, crisp and sunny.”

Burden uses descriptive and figurative language to capture How Betrayal Affects Identity and Perception, one of the memoir’s primary themes. She describes her dread as “leaden,” a weight that keeps her moored in her bed. Her physical immobilization contrasts with the pleasant image of the sun rising “over the lake” and Burden’s anticipation of a “beautiful day, crisp and sunny,” thus underscoring her physical and emotional isolation in the wake of James’s abandonment.