Ten years after her daughter’s disappearance, protagonist Laurel Mack remains unable to move past her grief and loss. Losing Ellie has completely consumed her life. She is pessimistic, paranoid, and resentful. She goes through the motions of her life without feeling purpose or meaning. Ironically, Laurel allows the loss of her “golden girl” (8) to result in losing touch with the family she still has, particularly Paul and Hanna.

However, throughout the novel, Laurel begins to heal. Her relationship with Floyd gives renewed meaning to her life. She finds herself remembering the joy in everyday tasks, such as cooking, and she makes amends with Paul for how she shut him out after Ellie disappeared. Since her relationship with Floyd brought such purpose and healing to her life, she finds it difficult to acknowledge that he’s hiding something from her. One moment, she suspects that something is off about him, but the next moment, she forgets her doubts and trusts him. By the end of the novel, despite the trauma she endured in finding out the truth about Ellie, Laurel has transformed. She heals her relationship with Hanna, recognizing that she has been a “golden girl” (353) all along; she just failed to recognize it before.