The Keeper of Happy Endings

“Alas, we women seldom get the life we would choose for ourselves.”

Soline laments that her girlhood dreams of creating her own fashion line were disrupted by the choices her family made for her and the role she was expected to fulfill as a dressmaker. The novel suggests that, for women especially, the influence of others can have a damaging effect on their ability to create a life of their own choosing. From the beginning of the novel, Davis introduces the questions at the core of the theme of Magic and Emotions: whether the characters, particularly the female characters, have control over a fairy tale ending.

“People always find a way to justify their hate—and give others an excuse to fall in line. They put words in people’s mouths, plant them like viruses, then watch them spread.”

Maman warns Soline that the dark times are coming with the German invasion imminent and explains that hate needs no justification; she foreshadows how danger spreads. Maman’s warning reflects her knowledge that Soline may not be safe, both due to her magical heritage and the fact that her father is Jewish.

“Rory had come to understand how the loss of something precious could completely unravel a life.”

Rory has just learned that Soline’s bridal shop was destroyed by a fire, and the thought that one act could rearrange the events of a life resonates with her. Their similar experience of grief connects Rory and Soline, instituting the theme of Grief, Loss, and Restoration.

“Before she died, my mother told me there was a time for holding on and a time for letting go.”

Soline describes a common thread that runs throughout the text: when to hold onto lost loves and dreams or let go. Soline has collected the broken pieces of her life in the dress box, items that symbolize her unrealized future with Anson, and cannot bear to keep them near her because they are reminders of so much pain. Soline, however, hopes to influence the next generation to hold onto hope and faith that there will be restoration, contributing to the novel’s wider ideas that restoration is possible after loss.

“Rory understood that kind of pain, the ache that waited for you every night when you closed your eyes and was still there in the morning when you woke. The empty place where your heart should be.”

This passage illuminates the theme of Grief, Loss, and Restoration because it demonstrates how Rory feels in the wake of her loss: each morning brings a fresh reminder that the one you love is still gone. The structure of this passage reflects Rory’s experience. The second clause of the first sentence runs on for almost two lines, mirroring the “ache” that waits for Rory morning and night. This is followed by an abrupt sentence with no active verb, highlighting the fact that Rory abruptly wakes up and feels unable to live her life.

“The rest of the world is moving forward, living their lives and dreaming their dreams, while you’re frozen, forever suspended in that terrible moment when your world stopped turning and the ground suddenly fell away.”

Here, Soline offers a similar take on her experience with Grief, Loss, and Restoration when she remembers how it felt to lose her loved ones. Davis uses dynamic imagery to portray Soline’s feelings; the rest of the world is described as “moving” and “turning” while Soline is “frozen” and “suspended” in contrast with the vivid movement.

“All over Europe, Jews are being erased. And the French government is helping to do it.”

This passage details what occurred during the German occupation in Paris and Europe broadly, when many in government and positions of power were either forced or willingly cooperated with the identification, rounding up, and deportation of millions of Jews. Soline experiences the war around her and feels its direct and indirect impact on her life, but in contrast to those who colluded with the Germans, she is not complicit in doing harm and instead joins the Resistance to do her part in helping innocent people.

“Adding beauty to the world isn’t vanity, chérie. It’s a calling.”

Soline is trying to express to Rory that her ability to create art is a gift meant to be shared and relates this to her own experience, deepening their connection as artists. Soline implores her not to give up on her ambitions and explains how she once hoped to have a fashion label of her own, which underscores how art symbolizes dreams and expressions of independence.

“We talk more and more about the future these days. We do not speak of forever—the war makes such talk feel imprudent—but we talk about our tomorrows.”

In this passage, Soline and Anson have grown closer with their joint cause of the Resistance, and through war is all around them, they cling to the promise of being together in a future of their own creation. They are aware of the fragility of life as they witness it in both their jobs at the hospital, caring for injured soldiers and in their work to advance the Resistance cause. Using “tomorrow” as a metonym for the whole “future” highlights the sense of precarity that war creates in life.

“We’re well acquainted with sacrifice where I come from, Monsieur Purcell. We learned about it the day the Germans marched into Paris and hung their swastikas all over the city.”

Owen has no sympathy or compassion for Soline’s plight as an immigrant or as someone who experienced the horrors of war, and she exerts her power by educating him on what life was like in occupied Paris. Davis uses blunt language of “marched” and “swastikas” to emphasize the fact that Soline aims to shock Owen.

“Our way of life comes with a very specific set of rules, Miss Roussel. And there isn’t room for someone who doesn’t understand them. It’s my job to make you see that.”

This passage expands on Owen’s characterization as the antagonist of the novel who only cares about his family’s name and does not welcome Soline into the Purcell family, despite her engagement to Anson. He is a calculating, cold, and deceptive man who shows that he is not afraid to separate loved ones if it accomplishes his end goal.

“Babies are meant to bring joy, but I feel no joy. In fact, I feel nothing. I have heaved myself empty and wept myself dry. I’m hollow, scraped raw. And yet strangely disconnected. Perhaps there’s a limit to how much pain the heart can hold.”

This passage displays Soline’s inner thoughts when she first learns of her pregnancy; she is isolated and mistreated by Owen, has just learned of Anson’s capture, and now finds herself pregnant with his baby and completely unsure of what her future holds. It relates to the theme of Grief, Loss, and Restoration because her immense grief colors what could be an otherwise happy event for her. The full stop preceding the word “[a]nd” typographically reflects the fact that she feels “disconnected” since it disconnects the conjunction from the previous sentence.

“She couldn’t explain the connection between them. She only knew that it was real, that fate had somehow seen fit to weave their stories together. But why?”

As Rory and Soline grow closer, she cannot deny the bond they share or make sense of it. The unseen forces that bring them together can be attributed to la magie, an example of the relationship between Magic and Emotions that Davis weaves throughout the novel. The passage also illustrates how much of their story is still yet to unfold because eventually they will understand the origin and depth of their relationship.

“But when you love someone—truly love them—you’re connected to them in a way that can never be severed. Even when they’re taken from you, years later, you can still feel them, like an echo calling back to you.”

The theme of Grief, Loss, and Restoration is displayed in this passage with the reference to the echo that connects loved ones to each other. This is a repeated sentiment throughout the novel that demonstrates the unending impact of loved ones on the characters’ lives, and highlights the book’s idea that people can be restored but will always be changed by loss.

“Camilla had never been anything other than who she was right now. Stolid and perfect and in control of every facet of her life.”

This excerpt demonstrates the tension and misunderstanding in Rory’s relationship with her mother throughout much of the novel. In Rory’s estimation, Camilla has never been through anything difficult and had never had to reinvent herself as Soline and Rory have had to do; she is misguided, but the eventual Community and Healing will only come when Camilla shares openly about her adoption.

“Prudent was her mother’s favorite word. Mustn’t stray outside the lines. Mustn’t be messy. And above all, mustn’t be an embarrassment.”

Camilla and Rory’s conflict comes to a head as Camilla forces her way into the lunch with Soline. Rory has always been interested in art, despite how messy or disruptive it is, but Camilla’s impeccable home did not allow for Rory’s creative expression. To Rory, Camilla’s insistence on doing things the “right” way and looking good in front of others are the primary goals.

“But a moment later, the girl is gone, replaced by the woman I have become. Worn and alone. Dreamless. Scarred.”

Soline has retrieved her dress box and is holding it in her arms when she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror; for a moment, she sees the girl she once was, a child who believed in happy endings. She views herself now as someone who has been irrevocably damaged by life and does not have hope that her happiness can be restored after the uncomfortable lunch with Rory and Camilla. The reemergence of her isolation and wounds are on display in this passage.

“She’d been a lifeline in the beginning, a kind of mirror in which to see herself, but she’d become so much more. A friend and confidante. Her fairy godmother.”

Rory feels awful about the distance that Soline places between them and longs for reconnection with her. This passage illustrates the depth of their bond and the special place that Soline now has in Rory’s life. It also connects to another important relationship in the novel—the one between Soline and Maddy—in which Maddy was Soline’s “fairy godmother,” which subverts typical gender roles and highlighted a relationship beyond heteronormative constructions.

“If not for the interference of Owen Purcell, Soline might be the mistress of this house. She would have been here when the news arrived that Anson was, in fact, alive […] There would have been a wedding and children. Happiness instead of sorrow. Joy instead of grief.”

This passage reinforces Owen as the antagonist responsible for changing the trajectories of each main character in the novel. Rory imagines how different Soline’s life would have been had Owen not intervened to keep Anson and Soline apart and separate them from their child.

“Maybe there was a reason she’d felt such a strange affinity for the row house the first time she saw it, and to Soline the first time they met. Fate had pushed them together somehow.”

When Thia reveals the connection between Rory, Camilla, Soline, and Anson, Rory understands that it is not chance that brought Soline into her life; some other force was at work and brought them together. This highlights the novels theme of Magic and Emotions and its questions relating to how much control an individual has in their destiny. Out of the conflict in the novel, Rory hopes to bring resolution and seeks to give Anson the chance to make things right with Soline, reflecting the theme of Community and Healing.

“I feel her anger in my bones, the tug-of-war between mother and daughter. It’s a clash as old as time itself, for there have always been mothers who knew best. Just as there have always been daughters who knew better.”

This passage illustrates the tension within the mother-daughter relationships of the novel. Soline hopes to encourage Rory to forgive Camilla and find common ground, but she can also understand that it is difficult to exists within an arrangement in which mothers attempt to force their own expectations on their daughters.

“Her grandmother had dreamed here once and had left a little of her magic behind, like bread crumbs for her to find one day.”

This passage illustrates the novel’s sentiment that when you love someone, they can never truly be separated from you and that nothing that matters is ever forgotten. Davis uses allusions to fairy tales in the “bread crumbs” to reinforce the sense of “magic” in the novel.

“I think of the morning I left Paris. If I had known then that forty years would pass before I saw him again, would I have allowed us to be separated? Can I allow it now?”

When Soline reunites with Anson, she is aware that so much time has passed between them and things have changed in their relationship due to the separation, but she also realizes she can’t let him go again. This passage illustrates her evolution as a character and her enduring love for Anson.