The Good Daughter

The key theme of the complex family dynamics of the Quinns runs through the novel, and is part of the book’s creation of rounded and ambiguous characters and scenarios, and its presentation of realistic cause-and-effect consequences, including around moral responsibility.

This theme comes to a central point in the scene where Rusty, Sam, and Charlie reunite. Sam is meeting her father and sister after nearly 20 years, and the event that brought her to town is Rusty being stabbed. The only reason Sam has agreed to meet her estranged family is because Ben, Charlie’s husband, emailed her three words: “Charlie needs you” (229). As Charlie and Rusty banter with each other in Rusty’s hospital room, Sam’s patience wanes fast, and she notes that she has always been a “reluctant spectator of the Rusty and Charlie show” (246). When Rusty uses the plot of Lethal Weapon 2 to make up a story to explain his stabbing, both Charlie and Sam erupt in anger at their father’s attempt at showboating and humor. However, Sam takes it one step further, hitting her father with her handbag. An apologetic and amused Rusty asks Sam to take up Kelly Wilson’s case, leaving Charlie jealous of her older sister.