Forever, Interrupted: A Novel

The start of Part 2 marks the beginning of The Journey from Heartbreak to Healing. In Part 1, Elsie is still trying to come to terms with Ben’s death. Her shock has complicated her ability to accept that her husband is gone and that she has lost the person she believed she would spend the rest of her life with. In Part 2, Elsie begins to pursue healing, and her different actions have varying degrees of success. Her first efforts to move beyond Ben’s death include her return to work at the library and her intermittent outings with Ana. In the two months since Ben’s death, Elsie has established a new pattern for herself, which makes the “days [...] easier to get through” (175). Devoting her attention to projects at work and agreeing to accompany Ana “to flea markets and malls, restaurants and cafés” grants Elsie and her acquaintances the illusion that she is recovering from her loss (175). However, in the body of her intimate first-person point-of-view narration, Elsie admits that she is grieving deeply. She has left everything the same in her apartment. She hasn’t moved or thrown out Ben’s belongings. She spends her days lying around smelling Ben’s things and waking from dreams that he is still with her. Therefore, when Elsie is trying to pretend as if she is better, she precludes her own ability to heal. This is symbolized most strongly by Elsie’s inability to throw out Ben’s rotting food in Part 1. Susan’s character becomes so crucial to Elsie’s grieving and healing process throughout these chapters. Her reappearance in Chapter 22 marks a narrative shift, symbolized by Elsie finally throwing away the rotting food after they make amends and connect.

Susan’s character assumes the role of Elsie’s archetypal guide, and Part 2 focuses more deeply on The Process of Finding and Building New Relationships. In Part 1, Elsie and Susan see one another as enemies. Their private grief blinds them to the connection they might share. However, the two months that pass between the end of Part 1 and the start of Part 2 affect an awakening for Susan. She humbles herself and comes to Elsie’s apartment, not only apologizing and asking Elsie for forgiveness but offering herself as a support system to Elsie. Susan’s character is especially important to Elsie’s recovery and renewal because Susan is intimate with loss. Before Ben’s death, Elsie had never experienced loss of this gravity before. She therefore welcomes Susan’s comforting and stabilizing presence because she has gone through a similar experience in the past. “It’s a hard one to make sense of” (180) she tells Elsie of Ben’s tragic death while reminding her that this senselessness doesn’t discount what Elsie shared with and felt for her son. This creates a contrast between Susan and Elsie’s parents, who minimize her emotions and dismiss her marriage. Susan’s character is able to authenticate Elsie’s experience in a way that none of Elsie’s other friends, acquaintances, or family members can, indicating that she will take on both a maternal and friend role for Elsie. Additionally, Susan knows what it specifically feels like to lose Ben, an important factor for Elsie who shared him with few of her friends or family members.

After the first step of throwing away old food, Elsie conveys her desire to heal when she starts to sort through Ben’s things. Leaving Ben’s things untouched after he dies is initially Elsie’s way of denying that he is gone. She is afraid of removing his belongings from her space because she believes that doing so will make her lose Ben all over again. With Susan’s help, however, she accomplishes this feat and takes the next step toward accepting that Ben is gone. It also creates a new opportunity for the two women to bond. At the same time, Elsie’s desire to heal doesn’t immediately eradicate her pain. This is why she abandons her car at the Goodwill and experiences a crisis after she donates Ben’s clothes. This is also why she ends up assaulting the patron at the library, a physical manifestation of her all-consuming grief. Elsie’s seemingly outsized actions throughout this excerpt convey the complexity of her grief. The novel thus suggests that although Elsie wants to get better, her grieving process isn’t linear. Each day presents her with a new emotional challenge that she must confront. At the same time, the novel underscores the importance of relying on others to overcome profound grief like Elsie’s. Elsie’s burgeoning relationship with Susan is beginning to teach Elsie how to ask for and accept help from others throughout her healing journey, even as Elsie struggles to maintain her friendship with Ana.