The Hunting Wives

“It feels so good to be in a dress; I can’t remember the last time I wore one.”

Sophie makes this seemingly offhand comment at the start of the novel when she puts on a nice dress in hopes of running into Margot at happy hour. The sense of mingled relief and eagerness in her tone reflects the fact that she is longing to rejoin the social world that the dress represents. Up until this point, she has felt alienated from her femininity and from her largely hidden sexuality, as she has chosen to pursue a conventional married life with a stable husband rather than exploring her romantic interest in women. Margot is alluring in Sophie’s eyes because she offers Sophie the chance to feel vibrant and desirable again.

“A decade spent in the lifestyle magazine business has me hardwired toward shallowness.”

Sophie makes this admission to justify and explain why she sometimes finds Erin boring and unfashionable, even though she knows the other woman to be a kind and loyal friend. By making this statement so early in the narrative, she foreshadows that her interactions with this new group of women will also be “hardwired toward shallowness.” Her outlook also explains her extreme vulnerability to Margot’s manipulation; she is easily seduced by Margot’s beauty and her sophisticated lifestyle.