The Unraveling of Julia

At the beginning of the novel, Julia is transformed by grief over the murder of her husband Mike. His death echoes the loss of her adopted mother when she was 10. Julia regains her identity by searching for her birth mother and falling in love with someone new, and her experiences help her to navigate the challenges of identity destabilized by grief.

After Mike’s death, Julia fears going outside and experiences survivor’s guilt. She even struggles to get out of bed sometimes, as “getting up meant starting another day without him in a life that was Before and After. She lived an Afterlife” (4). Scottoline repeatedly mentions how Julia feels like she is among the dead and not a part of the living world. Julia notes that the “mourned was in the photo, but not the mourner. The mourner was left behind, like her” (63). She feels alone and self-isolates. Additionally, Julia has nightmares and flashbacks. Gianluca, Julia’s new love interest, says to her that Mike’s murder, “breaks your heart and your soul, too. And your sense of self. So of course, you’re not yourself right now” (136). Julia’s identity has been dislodged because her heart and spirit have been broken.