Maternal imagery
The imagery of the book starts out particularly maternal and then goes through several permutations as Ursa (whose name is a signal for maternal instinct, Latin for "female bear") searches through her mothers' collective experience for some guidance in her own desire to become maternal somehow. The motherhood portrait is not shown in a vacuum, but instead, the portraits are painful responses to serious violation by the man whose name the whole family continues to bear. The whole family are mothers in search of healing.
Sexuality and violence
We see in this story the classic motif of generational karma, the "fourfold" portrait. The first woman was forced into prostitution and made to be pregnant with a daughter whom she forsook to get away from an abusive husband who then took that out on the daughter, raping her and forcing her into a life of sexual submission. The daughter they produce is raised with this knowledge of incestuous rape as her legacy, and she lives a life of psychologically damaged relationships where she is also the victim of sexual violence. The pattern even repeats for Ursa because she also finds herself mostly attracted to violent men who mistreat her.
Musicianship and performance
Ursa's musical performance is self-expression and art, but with an erotic edge. She is putting herself on display as an object of attention, and that very easily becomes sexual attention. She attracts someone with her art who thinks incorrectly about her life as a performer who then asks her to stop, and when she does not stop, she becomes the victim of violence. The imagery of performance includes her art and it suggests a connection between prostitution and performance arts, a symbolic connection that is as old as the earth.
Frustration with self
Ursa's name and legacy are both poignant reminders of her maternal nature, but she was rendered infertile by an assault by her husband, a symbolic reversal of the default effects of marriage—typically husbands make wives pregnant, not infertile. This leads to a schismatic opinion of Ursa's self. She feels no outlet to work through her own desire to be loved and needed, and although she is passionate about her singing and art, she is often frustrated by other aspects of her fate.
