"Last times are funny things, because you rarely know it's a last time until it's too late."
In this quote, Beth is reminiscing about Lillian's death, noticing the unexpectedness of death and the retroactive emotional filter it places over events that had previously seemed ordinary, like the last time you see someone, or a comment they made that had so much more meaning than you had originally thought. This is another major theme of the novel: grief. The death of a loved one is impactful, and its effects never really leave. This quote is also a bit of foreshadowing of Jamie's death and Olivia's similar realizations.
“What if, no matter what, we grow up to be the people we came from?”
Olivia, Jamie, and Maggie all have parental troubles, and none of them want to grow up to be like their parents. They find, however, that they have similarities that worry them: for example, Olivia has the loyalty and pull toward the water of Lillian, Maggie has Vicky's voice and aspirations, and Jamie has his father's kindness peppered with occasional bursts of rage and violence. In this quote, lying in the graveyard, Maggie asks Olivia if she'll grow up to be like her mother. Olivia responds by saying she won't, and Max backs her up; a child isn't defined by his or her parents, and Maggie can make her own choices.
I love you, Lillian. And I think you loved me, too.
This is the last line of the novel, and it's a powerful one. Olivia struggles with saying "I love you;" it's a recurring theme in the novel, especially with her boyfriend, Max. More importantly, Olivia struggles with accepting her mother instead of blaming her and pushing her out of her mind. In this last sentence, Olivia puts away her doubts that Lillian loved her, finally reconciling herself with the good and bad aspects of her mother's character and embracing them. Olivia has always had doubts that her mother killed herself because of her birth, but she finally silences them, realizing that her mother really did love her, and essentially reconciling with both of her parents in this touching finale.
