Status Updates From The Mothers

It was interesting that both Nadia and Aubrey have a similar childhood, Aubrey has been abused by her father, and Nadia had a story of abortion. Both are currently emotionally distant from their mother. It was visible that they relied on each other and supported each other, and the Upper Room Chapel became an asylum for them but hid the secret.

Around page 90 to 110, the relation between Nadia and Luke are getting deep. I can feel the weight of her choices are growing and the situations are more serious. Also the expectations of the church community becomes clearer. The "Mothers" feel like more of a judgment. Bennett wrote this to show how pressure from others can influence personal decisions and make people's problem hard to solve it privately.

Page 40 to 60. Nadia and Luke’s relationship starts from very quiet and low, but I can already feel secret and risky on their relationship because of their situation. Their connection look like based on the feeling loneliness than true love. Bennett includes this part to show how emotional pain could lead people to make complicated choices easier that may seem small at first but can have serious consequences later.

Now that Nadia works for the pastor’s wife, it brings her even closer to the church community, making the sense of judgment feel certain. At the same time, her friendship with Aubrey is also genuine but fragile. This creates a lot of tension, since it ties her more deeply to something she’s trying to escape. It makes me think about how being forced into certain spaces can make it harder to get away from your past.