51 pages • 1 hour read
Taylor Jenkins ReidForever, Interrupted: A Novel
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Journey from Heartbreak to Healing
The novel’s main narrative arc chronicles Elsie Porter’s journey from heartbreak to healing after her husband’s sudden death. Elsie and Ben have only known each other for six months when Ben is killed during a tragic accident outside of Elsie’s house, but the brevity of their romance doesn’t stop Elsie from feeling overcome by sorrow as a result of his death. Her devastation is so great that it feels as if it is “coating [her] body like a blanket, sinking [her] heart like a stone” (24). As a result, Elsie becomes physically, mentally, and emotionally immobilized. She has based her entire future and identity on her relationship with Ben, and she feels as if she has lost everything in the wake of his death. Without Ben, she has no sense of self and no purpose in life. Every morning she wakes “to the ugly, disgusting world over and over again,” unsure how she will face the day and what comes after it (50). At the same time, Elsie fears getting better after Ben dies because she doesn’t want to lose him all over again. She doesn’t want to laugh and enjoy life with Ana because she thinks that doing so means she’s forgetting Ben. She doesn’t want to attend the funeral because going means that “Ben [will] never come back” (134). This all-encompassing heartbreak is depicted as a sense of stasis, with Elsie trapped in a space of grief and hurt. She leaves Ben’s belongings as he left them because she doesn’t want to part with his memory, and Elsie’s fear of moving on is particularly symbolized by her inability to throw away rotting food that Ben left behind.
Elsie cannot pursue healing until she accepts help from others, showing the role of intimate friendships and community in overcoming grief. Ben’s mother, Susan Ross, is particularly influential in this regard. Susan becomes Elsie’s guide through her grieving process. Elsie accepts her help even more than she does Ana’s because Susan is familiar with loss and is similarly heartbroken over Ben’s death, showing how shared experiences can create new opportunities for connection and growth. Throughout Part 2, Susan assumes a more definite role in Elsie’s life. She not only comforts and supports her but encourages her to take care of herself so that she might recover from her husband’s passing. In Chapter 30, for example, she helps Elsie sort through and pack up Ben’s things, reminding her that “It’s about you. Your life has always been about you” (251). She authenticates Elsie’s heartbreak but teaches her that she can’t base the remainder of her life on Ben’s death and her identity as a widow. Susan helps Elsie see that she has “to find a way to remember him and forget him” (251). The time that Elsie spends with Susan, both in Los Angeles and in Newport Beach, gradually ushers her toward healing. Their relationship buoys Elsie and guides her through her sorrow, out of her grief, and into a renewed phase of her life. The end of her journey from healing to heartbreak is symbolized by her taking on the role of emotional guide for George as he navigates his own grief.
The Intensity of Brief and Sudden Romance
The suddenness and intensity of Elsie and Ben’s brief romance changes Elsie’s life forever, showing the power of love. Elsie has been waiting to meet someone whom she loves and who loves her in a thorough, profound way. She doesn’t pursue fleeting relationships or date casually because she wants to find her soulmate and experience great love. Ben assumes the role of her ultimate romantic partner almost as soon as they meet at Georgie’s Pizza on New Year’s Day. Their attraction to one another is so strong that they pursue a committed relationship in the early days and weeks of knowing each other, creating a stark contrast with Ana’s flings and casual relationships. The quick intimacy shared by Elsie and Ben is thus meant to represent the honest nature of their feelings—similar to fairy tales or romance novels, they know they are right for each other immediately. This is reinforced by Ana’s later relationship with Kevin, which mirrors Ben and Elsie’s early passion and contrasts with her other relationships.
While the two have immediate physical chemistry, Elsie’s first-person narration reveals deeper feelings attached to this attraction. On the afternoon of their first date, for example, Elsie marvels at Ben’s body, feeling suddenly “attracted to the idea of being protected by someone”; and Ben appears to be someone who “[can] protect [her]” (48). During lunch shortly thereafter, she realizes how irresistible Ben is and privately acknowledges that she thinks he is “the sexiest man [she has] ever seen,” because he is “so secure in himself” and “so sure that this [will] all turn out okay” (59). Throughout the weeks following, Elsie and Ben’s feelings for one another only grow. They agree in Part 1, Chapter 8, that things between them are moving quickly, but they “[do] not want things to slow down” (86). The rapidity with which they advance their romance is therefore inspired by the intensity of their feelings for each other. The novel uses their relationship to suggest that such romances are so powerful that they can overtake the individual’s sense of reality, self, and the future. This is true for Elsie and Ben, who move in with each other and get married within the first six months of knowing each other. The impulsiveness behind their decisions mirrors the conviction they feel regarding one another and the life they want to build together.
The brevity of Elsie and Ben’s romance complicates how Elsie understands their relationship, herself, and her future in the wake of Ben’s death. Because they are only married for nine days before Ben is killed in the accident, Elsie at times doubts her right to grieve. This is especially true when her friends, parents, and Ben’s family question the veracity and authenticity of her relationship with Ben. In Part 1, Chapter 13, for example, Susan tells Elsie that it’s “funny [...] that you think six months is a long period of time” (129). In Part 2, Chapter 24, Ana reminds Elsie that she’s grieving someone who she knew for less than a year. Such remarks challenge Elsie’s perception of what she shared with Ben and threaten to eradicate their romance. This is why she is so desperate to get the marriage certificate because she wants it to prove that her relationship happened and is a physical symbol of the all-encompassing love that the two felt for each other.
Over the course of Part 2, Susan ultimately authenticates Elsie’s experience and helps Elsie to put the relationship in its place and move forward. In Chapter 30, for example, Susan tells her that although “six months is short,” no matter how long she had with Ben, it wouldn’t have been enough time (251). She goes on to say that while those six months weren’t enough for Elsie, “they were enough to change [her]” and she therefore “deserve[s] to grieve” as much as anyone else (251). Such conversations grant Elsie a renewed perspective on her intense romance with Ben. It didn’t last her lifetime as she expected, but it did teach her that such powerful and transformative love is possible.
The Process of Finding and Building New Relationships
Elsie’s healing journey parallels her journey to find and build new relationships in the wake of Ben’s sudden death. After Ben dies, Elsie retreats from reality and, therefore, from her relationships. She feels incapable of engaging with anyone, including her best friend Ana. Elsie was already living an insular, secluded life before Ben died. Even before she met Ben, Elsie liked her alone time and often chose to stay home by herself instead of pursuing adventures or new experiences with others. She is also an only child and doesn’t have a relationship with her parents, family dynamics that further underscore her solitude.
This relatively secluded life underscores the change that happens when Elsie meets Ben; not only do they fall in love, but he also underscores the value of deep bonds in general. Unfamiliar with such intimacy since she has a distant relationship with her parents, she invests her emotional well-being in Ben alone. After meeting him, they tunnel into their intense romance, often excluding other friends and family members from their dynamic. They only introduce one another to a handful of friends and tell their parents either nothing or very little about each other. These relational patterns therefore leave Elsie entirely “alone in this life” after Ben dies (25). In her grief, she discounts the relationships that she does have. She undermines her longtime friendship with Ana throughout the novel and barely invests in her relationships with her library coworkers or patrons, in particular George Callahan. She detaches from these relational dynamics because she has convinced herself that no one understands what she had with Ben and therefore what she has lost.
Elsie’s unexpected relationship with Susan ultimately teaches her that she cannot heal without the help of others. When Susan first shows up at Elsie’s house in Part 2, Chapter 22, she proposes that they start over and try to be friends. She wants Elsie to know that if she “ever need[s] anything at all” she can contact her for help (185). Susan needs Elsie, too, because Elsie is “the only person [she has] left to be there for” (185). Furthermore, the women need each other because they are both grieving Ben and because they feel alone in their grief. What follows is a life-changing friendship that grants the women a new understanding of each other, love, connection, and themselves. In turn, building this relationship with Susan teaches Elsie how to repair her relationship with Ana and develop her relationship with George. As a result, Elsie establishes her own family structure. She still isn’t close with her parents and still misses Ben, but with Susan, Ana, and George, she finds a new communal network that can buoy her through both future hardships and joys in the years to come. In these ways, the novel communicates the importance of friendship and family in healing and overall mental health and well-being.
Related Titles
By Taylor Jenkins Reid
