The Seven Year Slip

Content Warning: This section features discussions of suicide.

“My aunt used to say, if you don’t fit in, fool everyone until you do. She also said to keep your passport renewed, to pair red wines with meats and whites with everything else, to find work that is fulfilling to your heart as well as your head, to never forget to fall in love whenever you can find it because love is nothing if not a matter of timing, and to chase the moon. Always, always chase the moon.”

Clementine often repeats her aunt’s aphorisms throughout the novel. They are a code by which she lives while Analea is alive, though she often forgets about them once she has passed. Though many pieces of her advice are more practical or strategic, Analea mainly wanted Clementine to put herself first when she told her to “chase the moon,” a lesson Clementine must learn for herself by the end of the book.

“She was an icon among bookish people, the person they all wanted to be. The person I wanted to be. Someone who had her life together. Someone who had a plan, had goals, and knew the exact tools she needed to implement them.”

This quote shows how Clementine thinks of her boss, Rhonda Adder. Though Clementine discusses her work and lifestyle, she especially emphasizes the fact that Rhonda seems to have a plan for her life and knows how to follow it. Through her descriptions of Rhonda, Clementine reveals that she craves stability, though the specificity of working at Strauss & Adder may not be her passion.

“‘When was the last time you did something for the first time?’ he asked, as if daring me. And if there was one thing I was more than a practical pessimist, it was someone who never backed away from a challenge. I resisted. ‘I assure you I’ve danced before.’ ‘But not with me.’ No.”

This exchange between Iwan and Clementine shows how Iwan helps her to give way to the person she becomes by the end of the novel. At this point in the novel, Clementine has lost her sense of adventure and wants everything to remain stagnant, and Iwan’s question hits a nerve for her. Yet, Clementine does give in and dance with him, showing her potential for growth as a dynamic character.