A prominent theme running through Unsheltered, particularly the 21st-century storyline, is that of mothers and children trying to find identity, belonging, stability, and understanding in their relationships with each other. These relationships—and their ability to give each entity what they want and need—range from successful (Willa and her mother) to strained (Willa and Tig).

The story opens as Willa is grappling with the loss of her aunt, from whom she inherited the Vineland house, and her mother. She was very close to her mother throughout her life, and the loss has disoriented and devastated her:

Really it was her mother she’d wanted to call right after the bad news, or in the middle of it, while Mr. Petrofaccio was blowing his nose. First thing in the morning, last thing at night, whenever a fight with Tig left her in pieces, it had been her mother who put Willa back together. When someone mattered like that, you didn’t lose her at death. You lost her as you kept living (11).

The loss of Willa’s mother is a subtextual undercurrent running through the novel, adding to the uncertainty, upheaval, and difficulties that Willa experiences. Not only does she have to rediscover how to have a relationship with Tig, help Zeke cope with Helene’s loss, and handle the various practical problems that the family faces, but Willa also has to do so as she is entering the phase of her life that follows her mother’s death.