Avery’s narration focuses a great deal on the interplay between surface and depth in the people around her and in the town itself. Even the weather in Littleport is deceptive; a storm rages at night, but come morning, there remains no sign anything even happened in the picturesque town. Avery often finds herself captivated by the moments when people let their guard down; the possibility that she could be the one to find out what hides beneath their outward demeanor is irresistible to her. Despite her search for the truth in all things, Avery does participate in different ways of keeping up appearances. When she meets Parker for lunch at Bay Street, she notes that the restaurant is a place where one must try hard “without looking like you were trying at all” (45). Although Avery wears the right clothes and says the right things, she is upper class in appearance only; she cannot escape the gossip about her past nor the reality of who she was then and in many ways still is now.

Avery is acutely aware of the town’s rumor mill and the myriad ways it works against her efforts to rebuild her reputation. She pays close attention to what people say about her past and her present situation with the Lomans.