The Cousins

Milly is fixated on two important pieces of jewelry: her mother’s diamond necklace that Mildred gave her and her grandfather Abraham’s watch, which was a gift from Mildred to her late husband. Milly wears her grandfather’s watch at all times, even though it is oversized and broken. And she “used to think [Allison] would pass [the diamond necklace] along to [Milly]” (20). In Milly’s eyes, the diamond necklace represents her mother’s approval. By withholding the necklace from her, Allison proves that she doesn’t think Milly is worthy of a Story family heirloom. When Allison suggests giving Milly the necklace as a thank-you for spending the summer at Gull Cove Island, Milly remarks that even though she wants the necklace, she really wants her mother to “want to give it to [her]. [Milly] want[s] her to be the kind of person who would care about passing along something meaningful from mother to daughter, no strings attached” (147). Milly associates the necklace not only with approval but with unconditional love, and she tells herself that if she accepts her grandmother’s invitation for the summer, she might finally earn her mother’s unconditional love.

Milly does, however, have possession of her grandfather’s old watch. When she leaves for Gull Cove Island, she starts wearing the watch, although she explains to Jonah that “it doesn’t actually tell time anymore” (246). Jonah is perplexed and doesn’t understand why Milly, a fashion-forward girl, would wear something that doesn’t fit her and doesn’t work. He comments that “it’s interesting that the one thing she wears every single day is a broken reminder of being shut out” (247). The watch was a gift from Mildred to her husband Abraham and is inscribed with the Latin phrase for “love conquers all” (246). The watch represents Mildred’s love for her family, and Milly thinks that wearing the watch in front of Mildred might remind her of the love she once had for her children. Milly harbors a deep-seated resentment for her grandmother because she knows that, to an extent, her mother’s misery is a result of her grandmother. The watch is heavy, indicating that Milly carries the heavy burden of her grandmother’s mistreatment of her mother.

However, Milly’s attitudes about her family and her grandmother have shifted by the end of the story. Although Milly was initially motivated to come to Gull Cove Island in hopes of earning her mother’s necklace, she sheds the jewelry of the Story estate at the end of the novel. She decides that her grandfather’s watch is too heavy, and her mother’s diamond necklace “didn’t look as good on [Milly] as [she’d] thought it would” (449). Milly is tired of chasing family approval, and she decides to find value in herself instead of in the Story family legacy.  

The locations in the novel, especially Gull Cove Island and the Story family home, hold special meaning to the Storys. The island itself represents the Story family legacy: it was turned into an expensive tourist destination by Abraham Story, but interestingly, the island is described as “flat and unremarkable” (64). Jonah comments that Gull Cove Island is smaller than Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard: the other popular tourist destinations in the area. The brochures call Gull Cove Island “more remote and rugged,” which Jonah translates to mean “fewer hotels and worse beaches” (51). Gull Cove represents the ingenuity and determination of Abraham and how he could take an “unremarkable” place and transform it into a highly-successful vacation destination. However, the island also represents the reputation of the Storys. The Storys—especially Adam—believe that their family is unique and special, worthy of praise and admiration. However, just like Gull Cove Island is an unremarkable island selling itself as a must-see vacation destination, the Story family presents themselves as a high-value, glamorous family. But the dark secrets and vindictive behavior of the older Story siblings serve as a reminder that this seemingly “perfect” family is full of normal people with human flaws, and they are no better than the average family. In fact, given Adam and Anders’s involvement with Matt’s death, they might be worse.

If the island represents the Story family as a whole, then Catmint House represents Mildred. Like Mildred, Catmint House is beautiful and elegant but closed off from the world. When the grandchildren are invited to Catmint House, Milly notices that the gate around the property “must be fifteen feet tall, made of thick wrought iron, flanked by an equally tall stone wall that stretches as far as I can see in either direction” (251). Years ago, Mildred cut off her family members and became a recluse, and just as she is impossible to reach without going through Donald and Theresa, Catmint House cannot be accessed from the outside. The beautiful property and the home of the Story children were taken from them along with their mother.

When Catmint House is burned to the ground by Theresa and her accomplice, Milly comments that “there was something deeply unsettling about seeing an unbroken stretch of sky where the house used to loom. All of that history of Abraham and Mildred’s legacy, and my mother’s childhood home just—gone” (443). Catmint House is destroyed at the same time that news breaks of Mildred’s death, and the destruction of the house itself symbolizes the loss of Mildred. Mildred represented home and family to her children, and with the house gone, the reality of Mildred being gone is solidified in a tangible, visual way.