The Keeper of Happy Endings

“You must keep your chin up and be brave.”

Camilla gives this advice to Rory to encourage her to move forward with her life and not let Hux’s disappearance derail her plans, but it is the same sentiment that she used to share when Rory was younger and distraught over some teenage disappointment. The situations are not the same, which minimizes Rory’s experience as a person deep in grief. This passage demonstrates Camilla’s stoicism and the spine of steel that Rory accuses her of having.

“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.