Dale answers “I don't understand how Dannie could...”

A Goodreads user asked this question about In Five Years:

I don't understand how Dannie could mistake grief for love. She'd experience it before with her brother, hadn't she?

Dale Rosenberg True, and she was completely torn apart by her brother's death. But she was also 12 years old so the idea of sex as a life-affirming gesture (which I …moreTrue, and she was completely torn apart by her brother's death. But she was also 12 years old so the idea of sex as a life-affirming gesture (which I believe is what happened between her and Aaron) was not something that was likely to happen then.

In the "real" time of 2025 she doesn't mistake grief for love. She knows what's happening - they both do. And as she says they set a boundary afterwards - they'll have lunch weekly but they aren't going to be lovers. When she "mistakes" it it's in her dream or premonition. She has one hour of December 2025 and none of the context. She doesn't know Bella is dead; she doesn't know Aaron was Bella's boyfriend; she doesn't know she broke up with David. So she has sex with Aaron and knows she's feeling something really strong and really different, but she doesn't know why. When it all happens "again" in real life, she has the context to understand it.(less)

flag

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions

Learn more