Each of Hawkins’s three central characters seeks to escape the past. Eddie is simply embarrassed by his “thoroughly mediocre” origins, but Jane and Bea hide their true identities to distance themselves from the trauma and neglect of their pasts, which threaten to unravel their new lives. This conflict drives each of them to take drastic measures—often at the cost of others’ well-being—and to isolate themselves. By the end of the novel, they each learn that their pasts are inescapable and that true freedom only exists in human connection.

Before the novel even opens, Jane has adopted the name of her deceased foster sister to leave behind her traumatic history as Helen Burns. She takes on “the name of a dead girl [she] knew in a dead life” (27). However, by choosing this name, Jane actually further enmeshes herself within her past. The real Jane’s death haunts her. She befriends John Rivers, “a guy [she] met in a group home after [her] last foster situation ended badly” (34), and John takes advantage of Jane’s situation, blackmailing her in exchange for his silence. Initially, Jane gives in to John’s demands out of desperation. It’s only when Eddie urges Jane to resist John’s relentless demands that is inspired to change.