For more than 200 years, the inhabitants of Blackbird House experience trauma and sorrow as well as love and new beginnings. One thread uniting the narrative is that love is a powerful motivator in times of difficulty but can cause people to make questionable decisions.

Love provides inspiration through suffering. Coral Hadley first demonstrates this when she refuses to accept that her family is dead and toils tirelessly to cultivate a farm that John would have wanted. The intense physical labor that Coral undertakes is a sign of love and a coping mechanism for her loss. Likewise, love propels Vincent to make the long journey home, although he doesn’t realize it until he reaches his destination. Seeing the farm, “[h]e thought about how love could move you in ways you wouldn’t have imagined, one foot in front of the other, even when you thought you had nothing left inside” (21). Vincent sees the connection between his mother and himself: Love led them both through pain. A similar connection between parent and child surfaces in “The Token.” Distraught over the death of her husband, Ruth is paralyzed. However, when Garnet approaches her with the means to leave, Ruth agrees.