Golden Girl

Willa is Vivi and JP’s oldest daughter and a static character. She is married to her childhood sweetheart, Charles Evan “Rip” Bonham III, and is 24 years old. After having experienced three miscarriages in the past, Willa is newly pregnant when Vivi passes away.

There are echoes of Vivi’s resilience in Willa, just as there are sharp contrasts. Like Vivi’s relationship with Brett, Willa, too, grew closer to Rip after loss—in this case, Vivi and JP’s divorce. Like Vivi, Willa appears calm and level-headed in tough circumstances—even as she grieves her mother, she soldiers on with her life, continuing to work and attempting to maintain normalcy for her unborn child. However, unlike Vivi, Willa never outgrows her relationship with Rip in search of something bigger or more exciting. On the contrary, Willa finds comfort in the stability of a relationship in a way Vivi never did—Rip and Willa continue to love and cherish each other with the same devotion and commitment they displayed when they were just childhood sweethearts.

Despite these differences, Willa and her mother were close; besides Rip, Vivi was the only one who knew about Willa’s nascent pregnancy, and Willa deeply mourns her mother’s death. However, Willa’s grief and the way she processes the aftermath of Vivi’s death are different from those of her siblings. Unlike Carson and Leo, Willa has a family of her own to focus on. While Vivi’s death leaves Willa shaken, especially because she is going to become a mother herself, Willa does not feel bereft in the same way. She is at a life stage where she will soon have to serve as a source of strength for another human being, the same way her mother did to her. Willa is the only one of Vivi’s adult children with whom Vivi’s relationship has grown out of all childhood needs and adolescent turbulence and completely settled into an adult dynamic, presenting one display of Growing Up After Parental Loss in Adulthood.

Carson is Vivi and JP’s middle child and second daughter and a dynamic character. She is fiery and rebellious, constantly acting out ever since her parents’ divorce. Carson is 21 years old and employed as a bartender at the Oystercatcher, a local establishment, when Vivi passes away. Besides engaging in drug and alcohol abuse, Carson is also having an affair with Zach Bridgeman, the much older husband of her brother-in-law Rip’s sister.

Carson’s relationship with Vivi is briefly glimpsed on the morning of Vivi’s death before Vivi heads out for a jog—mother and daughter clash about Carson’s irresponsible behavior, but they also quickly reconcile, with Carson texting Vivi an apology. This interaction is representative of Carson and Vivi’s relationship, which is also influenced by the stage of life Carson is in: There is conflict and tension as Vivi worries about Carson’s choices, but this is rooted in love and concern, which Carson knows and appreciates. Hence, she is left feeling rootless after Vivi’s death and continues down a spiral of dangerous choices until Vivi’s ghostly intervention.

Just as Willa and Vivi’s relationship had matured into an adult dynamic, Carson and Vivi’s is reminiscent of a parent-adolescent equation. This is the challenge Carson is left with after Vivi’s death—outgrowing her impulsive and self-destructive tendencies to embrace a more responsible adult life. Vivi’s nudge allows Carson the pause to make this change, and by the end of the book, Carson has entered an appropriate romantic relationship and prepares to leave Nantucket with Marshall to build a life together elsewhere.

Leo is the youngest of Vivi and JP’s children. He is 18 years old and has just graduated high school when Vivi passes away. Leo is gay, but the only person who knows this is Cruz DeSantis, Leo’s best friend and unrequited love, whom Leo kisses the night before Vivi’s death.

Leo’s relationship with Vivi lacks both the maturity of her dynamic with Willa and the conflict of her dynamic with Carson—despite technically being an adult, Leo is still a child who needs his mother. Thus, his grief is the most intense of the three children, necessitating Vivi’s intervention at the earliest point in the narrative. Leo is left to deal with Vivi’s death just as he falls out with Cruz, leaving him without any emotional support needed to navigate the multiple challenges in his life: the loss of a parent, the rupture in a friendship, the heartbreak of an unrequited love, and the worry of a closely guarded secret becoming public.

Leo’s character arc thus revolves around finding emotional support again and making steps into adulthood on his own. While Vivi’s nudge steers Leo away from a dangerous path, Leo eventually must do the rest of his Growing Up After Parental Loss in Adulthood on his own: He breaks up with Marissa and reconciles with Cruz, and by the end of the book, he prepares to go off to college, marking another milestone into adult life.