58 pages • 1 hour read
Laurie FrankelThis Is How It Always Is
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Important Quotes
“He seemed to have fallen in love about an hour and a half earlier on his sofa in the middle of ‘Canto V’ before ever laying eyes on Rosie.”
(Chapter 2, Page 13)
Penn and Rosie’s early compatibility foreshadows their attunement as parents. Throughout the book, Frankel characterizes Rosie and Penn’s relationship through their physical intuition, depicting them as picking up where the other leaves off.
“My daughter will be named Poppy. Not a decision. A realization.”
(Chapter 3, Page 15)
Penn’s prediction about Poppy foreshadows Poppy’s eventual transition. It also implies Frankel’s position on gender identification as being a personal truth as opposed to a choice
“Crying girls, even ones who were going to be fine and whose parents were on their way, broke Rosie in a way none of her other cases did.”
(Chapter 3, Page 25)
Rosie’s enduring trauma is her sister’s death. Throughout the novel, we see this formative experience shape Rosie’s decisions and affect the course of her life.
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By Laurie Frankel
