Reba is continuously reinventing herself, trying on new personalities and fictitious lives. What is her motivation for doing this? Why does she think running away from her family’s problems will help her achieve a new beginning?

I think Reba is afraid to slow down and face her fears and her past life so she is constantly searching for some kind of peace and happiness. If she is constantly on the move to the next perfect life, she won't have to face the past problems or failures in her family.

Over the years, I have watched my 20 something/30 something year old children go through the same process though on a smaller scale and with less drama. I truly believe that some people take a more winding path through life, needing to try different things on for size before deciding what fits. Children from disfunctional families often need to do this more than others

Reba's past was so difficult to absorb that she had a need to run away from it. She was traumatized and had no one to turn to in an attempt to free herself from the terrible knowledge she discovered.

Reba is ashamed of her past. By trying to reinvent herself she is trying to forget all the horrible and painful memories that have haunted her for most of her life.

Additionally, I think she saw something of herself in her father, and was looking for ways to avoid experiencing the same fate.

In some ways, like with her college roommate, Reba took on a new style in order to be accepted. I think she wanted to get away from her mother and sister in hopes that she could run away from what she perceived was the future of her mental/emotional health, but she later realized that she missed them and that running away was no solution. It seems to me that when she became friends with Elsie and Jane that she was able to let her true personality--and likes and dislikes--come through.

A lot of us go to great lengths to try and dissociate from painful memories. I think that's a really human reaction and why Reba does so. It's a kind of self-preservation, a breaking away from what she couldn't face.

I believe Reba's inability to focus on the positive things in her life cause her the misguided belief that if she moved, if she only had the perfect job, etc. life would be better. Happiness however fleeting comes from accepting the good and bad in life, but focusing on what one has to be thankful and understanding happiness is internal not something that someone or something external can change or impact.

She reinvents herself because she is not happy with who she is. I don't feel at the end of the story she has all the answers although she has grown. She could definitely have benefited from therapy. Escape is not the answer because we can never really escape from ourselves until we deal with the issues that form our personality.

I also agree that she saw herself a lot like her father. I believe that by changing who she was & moving to a part of the country so different from Richmond, VA that she would escape her demons, & that she wouldn't become her father. I think I would have a hard time befriending her right away. She definitely needed help.

I thought Reba was the saddest character in this book. She seemed incapable of accepting herself and, therefore, happiness or even able to forgive herself. I hope that she achieves some happiness after this story ends and does not descend again into the painful memories of the past .

Reinvention or change is often the defense mechanism of choice for those who have difficultly accepting who they are. When you don't think you are a good enough person or think you deserve to be happy then you try to change who you are to be deserving of these things.

Does it work -- not usually. Still many people wind through life seemingly effortlessly, while others struggle like Reba to be worthy.

Reba didn't know who she was. She was in a job that she really didn't like. She was in a relationship with a man she really didn't know. I think Reba began to grow in her relationships with Elsie and Jane. She began to feel things again, as she became friendly with the mother and sister. I believe by the end of the book she had gotten to know who she really was and what she wanted to do with her life. She was a difficult character to analyze, until the end of the book, when she finds herself and is finally able to make some changes in her life. I loved this book.