Is She Really Going Out with Him?

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying and animal death. 

Anna Appleby is the female protagonist and first-person narrator of the story. At the novel’s beginning, Anna is emotionally, professionally, and romantically stuck in a rut following her split from her ex-husband, Dan. She struggles to move forward and faces The Challenges of Navigating Life After Divorce, finding herself caught between her responsibilities as a mother and her desire to reclaim a sense of self outside of marriage and parenthood. Dan remains a constant presence as they manage co-parenting duties, reminding her of her past failures in love as Dan is happily partnered with someone much younger. Anna’s reluctance to fully let go of her marriage prevents her from taking risks in her romantic life as she struggles with insecurity as a woman in her late thirties and a single mother. Her divorce has left her doubting her desirability and ability to find love again. She says, “To question whether I am even lovable now, since the fun-loving, carefree girl I was no longer exists” (50). She approaches the dating experiment with a sense of detachment as if she is an observer rather than an active participant in her romantic life.