Kristina asked Laura Branchflower:

In A White Picket Fence why is the wife such a clingy doormat and why does the husband NEVER grovel and grovel ALOT? Why? It's degrading, he deserved a quick kick up the arse and a permanent shove out the door. He showed no remorse, what's to stop him cheating again?

Laura Branchflower I wanted to write a story where a couple survived infidelity -- leaving is easier. I think it takes a great deal of strength to forgive an affair. I don't agree that Lina was a doormat. She was a woman who wanted to save her family. They were together twenty five years -- that's a lot of history. And Phil while a selfish character did show remorse -- at least in my mind he did. I clearly didn't convey it enough for some readers. When I'm writing a novel I have a general idea where I'm going, but then the characters kind of write themselves. I would have loved to make Phil grovel but it wouldn't have been authentic to his character. The anger his demonstrates throughout the novel is because he is upset with himself -- yes he lashes out at others, but in my experience that's how people often act when they are angry -- they project their feelings on others.

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