What similarities do you see within each character’s stories and experiences? How do they reflect the effects of intergenerational trauma?
A sense of loss in their worlds and wandering souls. Maybe this is another interpretation of the book’s title.
Great loss and a spiral down to substance abuse because they do not come to terms with their past and the horrors they suffered.
Every character experiences loss of a parent and their heritage—which is the primary ground of a person’s development. They all have to make efforts to feel part of a family. Most of us could take that for granted, as nature intended. It is no surprise then that most of these characters struggled with addiction and with finding a purpose beyond survival.
Each character has had to deal with the past. They are all defined in some way or other by the experiences of their an ancestors. They all have struggles with generations of trauma and violence. This has caused them to be hard pressed to find a place in the world where they are comfortable and do not feel dimished.