"Sometimes his parents forgot themselves over drinks with Hungarian friends and spoke of the country they once knew... then they fell silent. They’d been guests, after all, in that country. As they were guests in this one."
Frank's parents struggle tremendously with the move to Australia, as it doesn't feel like home to them. The narrator describes them as feeling like "guests," as if they don't truly belong there. Ultimately, this reflects how Frank feels in the hospital, which isn't home to him.
"She was vibrant with life and yet she was solitary. Unburdened by domesticity. She was brave, even audacious. Kept her disappointments in their place. How had a woman like that come to live alone?"
In this passage, the narrator comments on Sister Penny, the senior nurse at the hospital. She is depicted as a well-rounded and kind character, who keeps her emotions regulated despite the emotional nature of her profession. As such, this leads the narrator to ask why she wasn't married.
"Margaret grieved that her daughter had to carry this burden. Elsa, each time she saw her, had become more adult. She had lost her childhood."
In this passage, Margaret tragically reflects on the fact that her daughter is growing up fast as a result of her illness. The gravity of the situation she is in has made her mature and see the world in a different way, and Margaret mourns the childhood she has lost as a result of her illness.
