What were some of the milestones you witnessed in Emilie’s journey to independence?
I think her biggest milestone was learning to trust herself and make her own decisions instead of letting others define her life.
I see her being the only one to be able to see Owl as her first milestone. Her winning out over her mother’s insistence she attend finishing school and her having been noticed for her ability to train horses. Her marriages and the birth of her daughter. Her final blow to Keller (I loved that!).
There were many: her realization that Owl was hers alone, convincing her father to allow her to work in Miss Cleda’s stables, moving to Arkansas and establishing herself as a premier horse trainer, despite their awfulness her marriages and her survival of their aftermaths, standing up for Miranda, etc.