Pieces of Her

“‘You are magnificent because you are so uniquely you.’ Laura pressed her hand to her heart. ‘You are talented, and you are beautiful, and you’ll find your way, my love, and it will be the right way, no matter what, because it’s the path that you set out for yourself.’”

Laura says this to Andy early in the novel. At the time, it is something that Andy needs to hear, as she is aimless and uncertain of what she wants. This is another quote that the reader will recognize when it appears later, as something cult member Laura Juneau says to Jane (Laura Oliver)—something the latter clearly takes to heart.

“Maybe that was Laura’s secret. She had dozens, even hundreds, of friends, but not one single person knew all of the pieces of her.”

Andy recognizes her mother’s unknowability. This sets up one of the fundamental themes of the novel, the question of Pieces of Identity, and how well we can ever truly know another, even a loved one. This recognition also begins Andy’s quest to discover more about her mother—and by extension, herself.

“These were the things she knew: That her birth parents had never married. That Andy was born the first year they were together. That her birth father, Jerry Randall, had died in a car accident while on a trip home to Chicago when Andy was eighteen months old.”

Andy reviews what she knows about her family and (allegedly) deceased biological father, as she is suddenly uncertain about her mother’s past. The irony is that, while Andy thinks she is listing what she knows, she will soon discover that none of this information is true. In the process of exploring her mother’s identity, she is forced to question her own as well.

“When I first met your mom, I thought she was a puzzle. A fascinating, beautiful, complex puzzle. But then I realized that no matter how close I got to her, no matter what combination I tried, she would never really open up to me.”

Andy’s stepfather and Laura’s ex-husband Gordon talks to Andy about his own difficulties in his relationship with Laura. His sentiments echo Andy’s own—that no one, not even Laura’s loved ones, seems to know Laura. This unknowability is one of the things that will drive Andy’s quest to discover her mother’s past.

“Andy let Laura do the thinking for her. Her mother had said to take the dead man’s truck so she was going to take the dead man’s truck.”

At the beginning of her journey, Andy follows Laura’s orders, and is relieved that she does not have to decide what to do. The two women’s dynamic is indicative of Andy’s general attitude about life at this point in the story, her willingness to relinquish control. Later, Andy’s assertion of control over her journey and life will become one of the themes of the novel (Taking Control: Andy’s Transformation).

“What information did a fifty-five year old divorced speech pathologist have that was worth hiring a goon to torture it out of her? Better yet, during what period of her life had Laura accumulated this torturable information?”

Andy is confused by the fact that a man has broken into her mother’s house and seems intent on torturing her to get information. She is further confused by her mother seeming to know the man. She quickly takes the question further, and wonders what part her mother plays in the man’s visit. Andy understands early on that her mother is not completely innocent in the situation they find themselves in.

“Andrea spread out the Polaroids of her mother on the desk. The gash in her leg. The black eye. The bruised neck. The pummeled abdomen. The broken nose. Pieces of a woman she had never known.”

The Polaroids that Andy finds in Laura’s runaway car are key to Laura’s story, as these photographs are what convince Laura’s brother Andrew to join The Cult of Nick and help destroy his father, Martin Queller. For Andy, who sees the photographs without context, the mystery of her mother deepens. This idea of the pieces of a person, represented by the title of the novel, is a major theme. Here, the photographs, which show only one piece of Laura’s body at a time, act as a metaphor for the figurative pieces of her character—and the fact that Andy can only see a few pieces at a time, never the entire woman.

“‘Men can reinvent themselves,’ Laura said. ‘For women, once you’re a mother, you’re always a mother.’”

Laura Juneau says this to Jane Queller (Laura Oliver) in the bar at the Oslo conference just before she shoots Jane’s father, Martin Queller. This comment is more meaningful to Jane than Laura could know, because Jane is pregnant. This statement brings up the theme of identity in a different way, illustrating how one’s identity is sometimes not completely within one’s control.

“She took a deep breath. She located Jane again. The girl was crying. She shook her head, silently mouthed the words her father would never say: I’m sorry. Laura smiled. She hoped that Jane remembered what Laura had told her in the bar. She was magnificent. She would find her own path.”

Just before Laura Juneau shoots Martin Queller, she finds Jane (Laura Oliver) in the audience. Jane remembers Laura’s words and says the same thing to her daughter more than 30 years later (further reflected in Jane starting anew as a Laura, Laura Oliver). However, Laura Juneau will never know that Jane was the one who put a gun in her bag instead of dye packs (for protest).

“What would happen if the truck was found? Andy played out the investigation in her mind, the same as she had while running away from her mother’s home.”

Andy is on the run, having just left the dead intruder’s truck behind. Although she makes mistakes, she proves herself to be adept and resourceful. She uses her experience as a police dispatcher, and what she knows about police procedure, to assess her position. At this point, the reader sees Andy’s transformation into a confident woman already beginning.

“Should she feel good that her mother had split up the money in the same way Andy had intended to, or should she be freaked the hell out that Laura had so carefully thought out an escape plan that there was over a half a million bucks stashed in the trunk of her untraceable car? This was the part where Andy wondered where she would’ve fit into Laura’s disappearance, because everything Andy had found so far pointed to only one person being on the lam. So Andy had to wonder, which Laura was her real mother—the one who’d told Andy to leave her alone or the one who’d said that everything she’d done in her life was for Andy?”

Andy shows her undeniable connection to her mother when she decides to split up the latter’s money the same way she did; she is more like her mother than she would like. This quote raises yet another important point—that Laura’s escape plan (i.e., the supplies in the storage facility) does not seem to include Andy. This underscores the theme of identity, as Andy questions Laura’s identity as a mother.

“They were just a handful of people, all of them under the age of thirty, believing that they had the wherewithal, the power, to pull off extraordinary acts of opposition. Wasn’t that the very definition of delusional? But then the next moment, Nick would start speaking and Jane would be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything they were doing made perfect sense.”

Jane (Laura) reflects on the Army of the Changing World, and wonders what makes them think they can do anything to enact change. But then, she gets caught up in Nick’s charisma again, and displays the classic behavior of someone indoctrinated into a cult. The relationship between Jane and Nick probes this theme throughout the novel, as well as the dangers of abusive relationships in general.

“Rumor had it that the rug was gotten off a Japanese family who’d been sent to an internment camp during the war.”

Jane (Laura) describes the features of her family home. During World War II, the United States forced Japanese American citizens into internment camps, a particularly dark event in American history. This quote is important because it shows the entitlement of the Queller family, foreshadowing Jane’s father Martin and brother Jasper’s ethically reprehensible business practices.

“‘They know everything.’ How could he not see this? ‘My God, Andy. They think we’re in a cult.’ He laughed. ‘Like the People’s Temple? The Manson Family?’”

Jane (Laura) tells her brother Andrew that she thinks the FBI has discovered their involvement in their father Martin Queller’s death. Throughout the novel, Karin Slaughter explores what makes an organization a cult by referencing other cults like the People’s Temple, whose leader, Jim Jones, incited his followers to die by mass suicide. Although Andrew laughs at Jane’s words, this question will continue to haunt her until she finally walks away from Nick and the group.

“Nick did that sometimes—made them all think they were about to walk into the path of an oncoming train, only to reveal at the last minute that he was the cunning conductor braking at the last possible moment to keep them out of harm’s way.”

Jane (Laura) sees no way out of her and Andrew’s situation, and is convinced that the FBI will catch them. But to her, there is a possibility that Nick has a plan that no one else knows about. Nick is charismatic and manipulative, making him a dangerous, fitting profile for a classic cult leader.

“They were all beaming at him, his willing acolytes. Even Andrew was glowing under Nick’s praise. Maybe their blind devotion was what allowed Jane’s anxiety to keep seeping back in.”

Jane (Laura) is beginning to see the cracks in Nick’s façade, and starting to question the group’s cause as well. Acolytes is a telling word to use, as it has a religious connotation that resonates with the idea of Nick as a cult leader. The “blind devotion” of the other members underscores this idea as well, but paradoxically, it is also what makes Jane doubt her situation.

“I want you to live your life, Laura had said back at the diner. As much as I want to make it easier for you, I know that it’ll never take unless you do it all on your own. Andy was certainly on her own now. But what had changed? She couldn’t quite articulate even to herself why she felt so different.”

Andy has begun to regain equilibrium and question what is happening to her as she speaks. Throughout the novel, Andy transforms from someone who is passive and withdrawn to a woman who takes control of her life and searches for answers. This quote is the beginning of this process—which is, ironically, her mother telling her to do so out of love.

“Paula had framed it in such a way that Andy was beginning to understand that the different facets of her mother weren’t pieces of a whole, they were camouflage. You have no idea who I am. You never have and you never will.”

Andy has gone further than merely questioning her mother’s identity. Until now, she has thought of uncovering the pieces of her mother, but now she realizes that Laura, Jane, adopted many roles in order to protect and withhold herself from others. This quote shows Andy’s greater understanding of the complexity of her mother’s identity.

“‘You’re wrong,’ Laura finally said. There was no emotion in her tone, just a cold flatness. ‘I’m nobody, and that’s exactly who I want to be.’”

Andy confronts Laura about her past as a famous pianist, thinking she sacrificed everything of her own volition. However, the reader understands Laura’s situation is far more complicated; we know what her life was like as Jane Queller. At this point, the reader has a better grasp of Laura’s identity than Andy does.

“For the first time in almost two years, Jane felt at peace. An eerie calmness had taken over. This was the right thing to do. After giving herself over to Nick’s insanity for so long, she was finally lucid again.”

Jane (Laura) drives her brother Andrew to the hospital after choosing to stay with him rather than accompany Nick to New York. Throughout the novel, Jane is in the process of disentangling herself from a dangerous manipulator, a cult leader. Here, she expresses relief at having finally escaped Nick—the right decision. The use of the word “lucid” indicates that she long felt drugged or mesmerized—but finally, her head is clearing, offering her a better perspective.

“Paula was still fighting by 1980s rules, before spin doctors and crisis management teams had become part of the vernacular.”

While holding Andy hostage, Paula tells her what the Queller family (Andy’s maternal family)—particularly Jasper Queller (her maternal uncle)—has done (corporate corruption). Andy’s reaction causes them both to realize that times have changed to such an extent that Jasper’s actions are no longer something that he will ever be punished for. In modern day, corruption may require a public apology, but is often not punished to the full extent of the law.

“Laura kept her gaze locked with Andy’s. It was like a laser beam between them…This was her mother. This woman, this stranger, had always been Andy’s mother.”

Laura and Andy have finally reunited in a hotel room with Paula. The former has come to rescue her daughter, and Andy wrestles with the fact that this woman she barely knows is also someone she knows intimately, and there is an undeniable connection between them. Here, Slaughter highlights the complexity of a relationship in which one can be both stranger and family.

“Now that Andy knew the truth—at least the part of the truth that Laura was willing to share—she was constantly asking Laura for stories.”

Andy and Laura are together again, and now that Andy knows some of Laura’s story, she continually presses the latter for information about the past. The younger believes she now knows her mother, but Laura still has her share of secrets. This quote illustrates, once again, the way in which we never truly know our loved ones. In a way, Laura has remained the same secretive person, while her daughter has grown in confidence and prods for answers as a result; the former still feels like a dynamic character because we are privy to how much she has changed since 1986.