A Simple Favor

“With me he was different. More himself, I guess. Quiet, kind, humorous, thoughtful—though he did have some very strong opinions, mostly about furniture. But that seemed natural—after all, he was a successful designer-architect. Davis was a perfect angel. Except for once. Or twice.”

In the opening pages of the novel, Stephanie tells readers of her blog about her husband, Davis, who died several years earlier. Her assessment of Davis is typical of the side of her life that she reveals on her blog; however, at the end of the quote, she hints at a darker side of Davis. This hint points to the reality of her relationship with Davis and illustrates the theme Living a Double Life.

“Emily laughed. ‘Sweet Stephanie. You’d be amazed by what people will do. Things they’d never admit to anyone—not even to themselves.’ I wanted to say that I wasn’t as sweet as she thought. I’d done some bad things too.”

Stephanie and Emily have just finished watching Strangers on a Train, Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel of the same name. When Stephanie wonders if people would really commit murder for someone else, this is Emily’s response. Emily, however, doesn’t know Stephanie’s own history, which will be revealed during the novel, and which she alludes to here. Stephanie also touches on the theme of Living a Double Life here, but because this is posted to her blog, she doesn’t go into further detail.

“I said, ‘Of course. I’m totally happy to do you a favor.’ A simple favor. The sort of simple favor we moms do for each other all the time.”

Although Stephanie wonders what could constitute an emergency at Emily’s job with a fashion designer, she agrees to watch Nicky after school one day. Throughout the novel, her allegiance to Emily is reinforced by their common status as mothers and Stephanie’s firm belief that mothers should help each other.