It Starts with Us

“He seemed very happy to see me, and then when he hugged me, it felt like a part of me that had been dormant suddenly sprang to life.”

When Lily reflects on seeing Atlas again after more than a year apart, she describes how his presence awakens something inside of her that has been buried. Through their relationship, Lily and Atlas gain an understanding of their past and a guide for how to heal for the future because their connection is innate and undeniable.

“My choice helped me realize that sometimes the hardest decisions a person can make will most likely lead to the best outcomes.”

In Lily’s letter to Ellen DeGeneres, she reflects on the difficulty of her choice to leave Ryle and on the positive outcomes of that hardship. This is one of the ways throughout the novel that Lily confronts her traumatic past in efforts to build a new future with Atlas. The result of her work is a lasting, committed relationship.

“Do I sacrifice what I know will make me happy for the sake of avoiding the inevitable disruption Atlas’s presence would cause? Or will I always have an Atlas-shaped hole in my heart unless I allow him to fill it?”

Lily questions whether to pursue a relationship with Atlas because of the conflict it may cause with Ryle. Hoover uses rhetorical questions such as these to capture Lily’s internal conflict, which haunts her throughout the novel. As Lily grows closer to Atlas, she learns to follow her instincts as a mother and a woman to pursue her own happiness and no longer questions her intuition.