The Things We Do For Love

In Kristin Hannah’s 2004 novel The Things We Do for Love, the lives of two women collide in their search for family and healing. Angie Malone is grieving the loss of her father, her baby, and her marriage. When she meets Lauren Ribido, a teenager who struggles to support herself and her negligent mother, Angie discovers what motherhood, home, and love truly mean. Through adversity, their relationship highlights the themes The Quest for Maternal Fulfillment, The Transformative Power of Love, and Embracing Grief to Heal.

This guide is based on the 2004 Ballantine Books print edition of the text.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain depictions of pregnancy loss and termination, death, child death, emotional abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, substance use, addiction, gender discrimination, and sexual content.

Plot Summary

Having lost a child and experienced a failed adoption, Angie Malone, née DeSaria, is too consumed by her own grief to save her marriage. As a result, she divorces her husband, Conlan, and moves from Seattle to her hometown of West End, where she lives in her family’s cottage on the ocean. There, she vows to save her family’s restaurant, which has been struggling financially since the death of her father.

Meanwhile, across town, Lauren Ribido is a high school senior who must fend for herself because her mother rarely works and spends all their money on alcohol. Consequently, Lauren has cared for herself since she was young, earning a scholarship to a prestigious private school and working late hours to pay back rent. Despite their situation, Lauren still longs for her mother’s affection but is constantly disappointed. Now in a long-term relationship with the wealthy David Ryerson Haynes, she begins to look at colleges, hoping for a full scholarship to the University of Southern California.

The two protagonists’ paths cross one night when Angie is in a Safeway parking lot while Lauren is plastering flyers on cars to try to find work. Struck by the girl, Angie hands her a wad of cash. Lauren is overwhelmed by the generosity, which pays some rent and keeps the landlord at bay. The next day, they meet again at Help-Your-Neighbor, an organization that assists those in need. Angie is there to volunteer, while Lauren needs a coat for her mother. On a whim, Angie follows the girl home. Then, she buys coats for both the girl and her mother and drops them off at their apartment. Not long after, Lauren enters the DeSaria restaurant to express her thanks and to ask for a job. Angie hires her on the spot.

As their lives intertwine and the restaurant flourishes, Angie and Lauren grow fond of each other, but Angie’s family worries that she will get her heart broken again. When Lauren learns that she is pregnant, she seeks an abortion but cannot go through with it. David’s parents urge the couple to consider adoption. Lauren’s mother, meanwhile, is angry about her daughter’s pregnancy and leaves town with her boyfriend. As a result, Lauren is kicked out of her apartment. When a worried Angie arrives to check on Lauren, the girl explains everything. Suppressing her jealousy about the pregnancy, Angie invites Lauren to live with her.

Around this time, Angie reconnects with Conlan. They both still love each other, but Conlan fears getting back together, recalling how Angie was so focused on herself amid their struggles that she did not see his grief. Insisting that she has changed, Angie asks to see him more often. He is skeptical, especially when he learns about Lauren. However, on Christmas Eve, Conlan shows up at the cottage to meet the girl. After questioning her, he softens when he realizes just how alone she is. He, too, begins to love her.

As David and his parents pressure Lauren to choose adoption, she becomes increasingly upset about the prospect. Ultimately, she agrees, but only if Angie is the adopting mother. When the couple presents this idea to Angie, she is terrified, having just begun to move past the idea of having children. When Conlan proposes to remarry her, she tells him about the prospective adoption. Although he is distraught about the prospect of additional disappointments, he stands by Angie’s decision to adopt the baby, and they get married again.

When David graduates, Lauren is overcome with anger and frustration, feeling that her pregnancy has fundamentally changed her life even as his progresses as planned. Soon, she gives birth. After refusing to see the baby for a whole day, Lauren relents and immediately falls in love with the boy. After gently breaking up with David, who signed the adoption papers, Lauren leaves with the baby. Although they anticipated this, Angie and Conlan are heartbroken, not just because they lost the baby but because Lauren is gone, too.

Lauren treks back to her old apartment and asks Mrs. Mauk, the property manager, for a place to stay. Unsolicited, the woman offers advice: stop running and see how much Angie loves her. This wisdom leads Lauren back to the cottage, where Angie and Conlan welcome her with open arms, noting that she—not the baby—has always been their child.