Confessions on the 7:45

“She was angry, hurt, betrayed—she knew that. But it was dormant, lava churning in a deep chasm within her, pressure building. She’d always been this way, the surface calm, the depths running. She pressed things down, away—until she couldn’t. The eruptions were epic.”

This passage describes Selena’s feelings after she discovers that Graham and Geneva are having an affair. It is the first of several examples throughout the book where her anger and rage are compared to a volcano that is building pressure until she erupts.

“If you weren’t running a game, someone was running one on you.”

This is a piece of wisdom that Pop gives Pearl, and she remembers it as she is engaging in an affair as Anne with her boss, Hugh. It is later revealed that this advice doesn’t just apply to literal con artists; it is true in the everyday lives of regular people, who are always lying to each other.

“And she did love him [...] she also hated him with equal passion. That rumble inside. That volcanic mix of sadness, anger, love. Villages would be reduced to ash when it finally erupted.”

This quote describes Selena’s complicated but strong feelings for Graham. Again, Unger associates Selena with a volcano to give readers the sense that she is reaching her limit of tamping down her feelings and will explode soon. The reference to villages insinuates that other will suffer from their unhappiness, alluding to the theme of Cycles of Generational Trauma.