First-Time Caller

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness.

Sound and voices, and their emotional impact, are a motif that is integral to both the novel’s plot and its emotional arc. Aiden and Lucie initially connect over the phone, and she immediately notices his compelling voice, insisting, “[T]hat voice might work on whatever unsuspecting, innocent soul he’s trying to lure into his essential oil empire” (19). During the same call, Aiden compares Lucie’s voice to “honey in a mug of hot tea” (24), a metaphor that emphasizes his comfort with her and the soothing relief of finally being on a call that appeals to him. Even before they meet, Lucie and Aiden are thus drawn to one another through sound alone. Later, when Aiden realizes that Lucie is the same woman he awkwardly flirted with in the lobby, he tells himself, “I know where I’ve heard that laugh before” (84), as he finally connects Lucie’s voice from the call to the person in front of him. This recognition, coupled with the pair’s attraction to one another’s voices, underscores their potential for a deeper connection that is not based simply on appearances.