The novel introduces this theme in the first chapter as Agnes explains to Polly that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is preparing for surgery. Both women are elderly and keenly aware of their own mortality. Agnes, however, doesn’t fear the surgery or the illness, and the specter of cancer fades into the background, making rare appearances as the plot unfolds. Although in her eighties, Agnes is determined to continue living a full life. As a writer, she feels called to continue to work as long as she can and even publishes the final installment in her Franklin Square series. While she concedes to draft a memoir at Maud’s urging, she doesn’t publish it during the course of the novel. This may be because Agnes feels she still has life to live and thus has material to add to her life story.

Both Agnes and Polly continue growing and learning as they age. Agnes realizes that the best way to ensure stewardship of Fellowship Point is not to establish a land trust but to relinquish ownership to the Wabanaki people. Polly, too, reaches insights and realizations about her own capabilities and learns how to assert herself to her sons.