Losing innocence and growing up
The main character, Melanie, is a teenager who is circumstantially forced to grow up quickly considering she is only a fifteen-year-old teenager. At the loss of both of her parents she is obliged to take care of her two siblings. She is forced to leave everything she knows behind, the safety of her parents' home, the castle where her innocence was protected. The fact that she takes her childhood books and her plush bear toy with her, shows that she is trying to hold onto her innocence, to hold onto the safety of it. At her uncle's home she feels isolated, especially when the care of her siblings is taken over by her aunt. The moment when she finally accepts the Jowles as her new family, and her uncle's home and obligations of contributing to the home as a member is the point where Melanie starts to mature and let her innocence go.
Family relations
On the night before the day Melanie will come to discover the dreadful truth, she finds herself in her parents' bedroom looking at her mother's wedding photo with all the family members. All the members from her father's side are smiling but there is one person, her mother's brother, who looks out of place with his grim expression and an aura of not wanting to be there. Uncle Philip, as we later discover is the villain of this fairytale-like novel. Despite the children being his blood, he hates them and wants to harm them. His hate is rooted in his insecurity because the children's father comes from a more successful family than his. The theme of family relations doesn't end there. The Jowles siblings are also a representation of an unconventional family which is wrapped in more closeness than what is deemed appropriate.
