Genre
Romantic Fiction
Setting and Context
Salt Lake City, Utah, 2012
Narrator and Point of View
Elise Dutton narrating from her own point of view
Tone and Mood
Romantic and hopeful leading to fearful and feeling powerless
Protagonist and Antagonist
Elise Dutton is the protagonist, Dan Dutton, her ex-husband, the antagonist
Major Conflict
There is increased conflict between Elise and Dan over her relationship with Nick
Climax
Elise learns that Nick was responsible for the death of three people as a teen driving drunk and realizes he is the one person in the world who actually can understand her without judging her.
Foreshadowing
Nick tells Elise he loves her which from her perspective foreshadows the inevitable disgust he will feel when he finds out about Hannah and the pain she will feel when he leaves her
Understatement
When Nick drives Elise home after his Christmas party she tells the reader she did not want the night to end, which is a big understatement, as she is already in love with him and does not want the period of their contract to end at the end of the year
Allusions
Nick alludes to Elise being like Marie Calllender because she makes incredible pies from scratch
Imagery
The author paints a detailed visual picture of Le Caille, an expensive French restaurant, that emphasizes its opulence.
"Housed in a stucco, ivy-covered French chateau, it had its own three-acre vineyard, and during the warmer months peacocks roamed the yard amid statuary and topiaries, while black and white swans glided in the swan pool. Tonight, the grounds were covered in snow and were extravagantly lit with strings of white lights."
Paradox
Elise is scared that Nick will despise her when he learns the truth about her past but it is actually this that drew him to her in the first place
Parallelism
There is a parallel between Elise's feelings of remorse and the way in which she cannot forgive herself for Hannah's death, and Nick's feelings of remorse and inability he has to forgive himself for the deaths he caused and the lives he ruined
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The food court was watching them - which means that it felt as though everyone in the food court was watching and the venue of the food court is used to represent all the office workers in it
Personification
"Fear doesn't listen to reason, it takes its own counsel"
Elise gives the emotion of fear the human quality of being able to listen to others and also thinking for itself
