Where She Went

Collateral Damage is the name of Shooting Star’s most popular album. In the world of the novel, it has been called “the angriest album of the decade.” Collateral damage refers to the unexpected casualties that result from a planned conflict. For instance, when civilians are killed during a military strike that targets enemy soldiers, their deaths are termed “collateral damage.”

In Where She Went, most of the damage suffered by Mia and Adam is unplanned, and therefore, more tragic in its life-altering consequences. Mia’s accident is not her fault, but it results in her leaving Adam for three years. Adam’s grief over being left is not his fault, but it leads to an increasing disillusionment with music, greater drug and alcohol use, and friction between him and his band. It als0 leads to his being singled out as the center of Shooting Star, which causes additional problems.

Mia bought Adam’s first Les Paul guitar at an auction, even though she was estranged from him at the time. She knew how much it meant to him, even if he had forgotten. The fact that she kept it for so long, not knowing if she would ever even see him again, is a clue that she had never really let him go.