The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

“Without preamble she said, ‘I’m not really your sister, you know…nor is Daphne. That’s why we’re so unlike you. I don’t suppose it’s ever even occurred to you that you’re adopted.’” 

Flavia begins the novel by describing the unpleasant relationship she has with her two older sisters. It is somewhat understandable to her that Ophelia, the oldest, is distant, but it hurts and bewilders Flavia that Daphne, who is closer in age to her than to Ophelia, always sides against her. Flavia feels utterly alone in her family and strikes back in frustration with pranks. Though she considers herself intellectually mature, Flavia is fooled in this passage by a classic older sibling cruelty, with Ophelia telling her that she was adopted. This detailed lie makes Flavia cry, showing that her sisters’ insensitivity continues to hurt her feelings.

What intrigued me more than anything was finding out the way in which everything, all of creation—all of it!—was held together by invisible chemical bonds, and I found a strange, inexplicable comfort in knowing that somewhere, even though we couldn’t see it in our own world, there was real stability.” 

Flavia was instantly drawn to chemistry because it makes sense to her. The elegant way in which her experiments come to logical conclusions comforts her. In this passage, Flavia finds comfort in knowing that there is stability in the world. This is because her own life feels so unstable, with her father failing to provide the dependable security she craves and the constant reminders of the mother she cannot remember. Because there are no bonds between herself and her family, Flavia examines how life is held together by invisible chemical bonds.