48 pages • 1 hour read
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
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Themes
Intergenerational Friendship
Content Warning: This section contains discussions of suicide, domestic violence, and pregnancy loss.
Eudora and Rose’s close bond establishes and develops the theme of intergenerational friendship. Together, they create a deeply rewarding relationship that allows both to overcome their individual struggles—something that proved difficult for them to do independently. This suggests that the very thing that can make intergenerational friendships difficult—the divergent perspectives each party brings to the table—is also what makes them rewarding.
Eudora is initially reluctant to engage with either Rose or Stanley, but she is drawn to Rose’s energetic embrace of life, which the novel suggests is in part a function of her youth: “This little girl is like a grenade packed full of joie de vivre, and Eudora has no idea why she’s been chosen as a friend. Eudora is everything Rose isn’t: old, disillusioned, and able to keep her emotions in check” (118). Rose’s relative naivete allows her to see the best in everyone; it simply would not occur to her to see Eudora as Eudora sees herself, and this fresh perspective helps Eudora reassess the value of her own life. As Rose worms her way into Eudora’s heart, Eudora also learns to be freer with her feelings, helping her to connect further with those around her—not just Rose, but also Stanley, Maggie, and even Montgomery the cat.
Rose is also impacted by this intergenerational friendship. Although Rose lacks the lifetime of negative experiences Eudora has accumulated, she hasn’t led an entirely carefree existence: At Rose’s previous school, her father tells Eudora, she had trouble making friends and was bullied. Eudora is determined to help Rose succeed at her new school, and her efforts to do so reveal the strengths that come with age. Rose’s innocence means that she is not always the best judge of character. When Eudora sees that Rose has attached herself to Jada, a classmate who is contemptuous of things that others enjoy, she reminds Rose to be open to friendships with other students, like Tommy, who seem kinder and easier-going. Eudora also has more practice standing up for herself and for others, so she pulls Jada aside at Rose’s birthday party to impress on her the value of kindness. Eudora’s involvement in Rose’s life helps Rose make a strong start in her new school and neighborhood.
The bond between Eudora and Rose only strengthens as the novel progresses. At first, Eudora resists this: She thinks to herself that she “hopes Rose isn’t trying to recruit her as a surrogate grandmother. She’ll be sorely disappointed if she is” (40). By Chapter 12, when a server at the pizza parlor mistakes Eudora for Rose’s grandmother, she does not bother to correct the server: She and Rose have become not only friends but also family.
Reconciling with the Past and Embracing Second Chances
Eudora’s past is checkered with crossroads moments where she needed to choose between the promise that she made to her father and her personal happiness and fulfillment. Beatrice and Stella had a fraught relationship, and Eudora’s attempts to mediate between them and care for them both often entailed personal loss, from being left at the altar by Eddie to her second love moving away while she stayed behind with her mother. Just as haunting to Eudora are the sacrifices she did not make—most notably, not rescuing Stella before Eddie killed both her and her unborn child. Although Eudora resents her mother and sister for limiting her, she also blames herself for failing to make them happy.
Healing must therefore come in multiple forms. As Eudora forms new relationships, she encounters opportunities for redemption or second tries. The clearest example is the role Eudora plays in delivering Maggie’s baby. By helping mother and child to survive, Eudora feels she has atoned for her inaction prior to Stella’s death: “[Daisy’s] gaze is like a blessing to Eudora, reminding her of a time when she could have helped another mother and child but didn’t. This time she did help. It’s only when she notices a tear land on Daisy’s cheek that she realizes she’s crying” (266). Eudora also receives a second chance to have the family that she thought was out of her reach. She is 85 and alone in the world, but in Stanley she finds the brother she never had, while Rose is the granddaughter she realizes she was longing for.
To fully reconcile with her past, however, Eudora must also learn to see herself differently. Through her relationships with Rose and Stanley, Eudora begins to confront the narrative she told herself about everything that happened. She starts to see herself not as someone who failed her closest family, but rather as a capable person who can have a positive impact on others and deserves love. Ultimately, she comes to accept that while she did her best for her mother and sister, it was not her responsibility to ensure they lived fulfilling lives: “You can’t make people happy. I tried to make my mother and my sister happy but I couldn’t. People make their choices, and this is mine” (339). When Eudora encourages Rose to go through her box of memories and ask questions freely about her past, it is clear that she has finally made peace with her life.
The Importance of Kindness
The novel emphasizes that being kind is one of the best ways to live one’s life. Though Eudora herself can be quite brusque (particularly in the novel’s early chapters), she does not tolerate cruelty in others. For instance, when the rude Dr. Simons bullies Dr. Jarvis for expressing concerns about Eudora’s health, Eudora retorts, “Your mother. I was wondering if she would be proud of the way you conduct yourself. I mean, you’ve clearly achieved a great deal in your professional life and yet you appear unable to behave in a civilized fashion” (103). Similarly, she later confronts Jada about her cruelty to other children: “I promise you that if you are unkind to Rose or anyone else, for that matter, I will come back and haunt you. And not in a nice way. Be kind, Jada. Always be kind” (355).
In fact, Eudora’s insistence on kindness stems from the same source as her gruffness: the strained relationship between her mother, Beatrice, and her sister, Stella. Beatrice’s treatment of her younger daughter is noticeably colder than her treatment of Eudora, which Eudora attributes (at least initially) to Beatrice’s association of Stella with the war and her husband’s death. However understandable Beatrice’s feelings are, however, the novel implies that her behavior toward Stella shaped Stella’s temperament for the worse:
Eudora noticed a softness around her mother’s eyes when her gaze was fixed on her, but it hardened as she turned her attention to Stella. She pointed a finger toward her youngest child.
‘I don’t want to hear any fuss or shrieking from you, young lady. Don’t you know there’s a war on?’
Stella jutted out her chin and stared at her mother (46-47).
Such interactions show Stella’s character hardening in response to her mother’s coldness. She learns to throw her mother’s disdain for her back in her face, as when she tramples the flowers her mother accuses her of stealing.
Because unkindness merely breeds more suffering, the novel suggests that kindness is never wasted. The one time that Eudora fails to extend kindness to her sister—when Stella calls asking for forgiveness and help—is one that that she regrets for the rest of her life. Kindness emerges as the most important element of a well-lived life. As Maggie notes, “There’s great comfort in kindness. I value it above almost everything else these days. Do you know what I mean?” (224).
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