When Life Gives You Lululemons

“None of the small indignities of Emily’s own body at thirty-six: light stretch marks on her hips; cleavage with just the smallest hint of sag; some errant dark hairs along her bikini line that just seemed to sprout now willy-nilly, indifferent to Emily’s indefatigable waxing schedule. It wasn’t a horror show, exactly—she still looked thin and tan, maybe even downright hot in her elegant Eres two-piece—but it was getting harder with every passing year.”

The novel’s opening scene introduces the theme of How Age Changes Ideals and Outlook. Thirty-six-year-old protagonist Emily Charlton attends a party in Los Angeles, where she studies the younger women around her and compares their bodies to her own. The calculating details the third-person narrator provides about Emily’s body affect a fixated, despairing tone. Despite all her efforts to appear “thin and tan,” Emily is painfully aware of how her age is changing her body. She fears her desirability—specifically to men—is fading, and with it, her social relevance, establishing one of the hurdles she will have to overcome in her character arc of self-acceptance and willingness to change.

“She reassured Harry that his mom would always be his mom, and that it was okay to talk about her and remember her, and Karolina’s big, strong tween had collapsed into her arms like a kindergartener returning from his first day away from home.”

Primary character Karolina Hartwell’s relationship with her stepson Harry establishes her caring nature. Karolina isn’t Harry’s birth mother, but she loves him like he is. Her willingness to meet Harry where he is and to create space for his complex emotions illustrates her love for him, and his response and freedom to collapse like a “kindergartner” demonstrates the bond Harry feels with her. Further, the passage foreshadows Karolina’s fight to maintain custody of Harry after her divorce from