Motherhood and the act of mothering hold a prime position in this novel. Moriarty often works with themes of women’s relationships, and the one between a mother and child holds prime significance. Many women are confronted with making choices between their own desires and the needs of their children. The maternal instinct is shown as a complicated one—natural but not easy.

These complex relationships are often multi-generational. Tess struggles to be both a daughter and a mother when she and Liam temporarily lodge with her mother. Cecilia and Rachel both demonstrate how fraught the relationships between women and their mothers-in-law can be, particularly when young children are involved. Rachel’s judgment of Lauren’s mothering, for example, highlights the ways in which women are judged (and often found wanting) for their mothering styles and abilities. 

Tess claims that marriage is “a form of insanity; love hovering permanently on the edge of aggravation” (433). This complex interplay of love, anger, guilt, and obligation is shown throughout each woman’s reflection on her own life. For Rachel, marriage is a changing institution that no longer reflects the traditional values of her time; she’s uncomfortable with the way married people seem to relate to each other and to their children.