Lemons

“Tall pines instead of skyscrapers, dirt instead of sidewalks, and one woolly monster lurking somewhere in the forest.”

The stark contrast between San Francisco and Willow Creek does not escape Lemonade, who immediately notices that she has entered a different world. She is resistant and cynical toward this new place at first and considers the idea of Bigfoot more of a ridiculous threat than an adventure.

“It feels weird to hear about Mama this way. It’s like I thought I knew her better than anyone in the whole entire world, and now I find out I don’t know lots of things about her.”

In moving back to her mother’s childhood hometown, Lemonade learns things about her mother that she never knew. This experience is jarring and unsettling at first, but it soon becomes a source of comfort and a way for Lemonade to cope with her grief and connect with her mother.

“She’s as bright as the sunshine washing over her. She’s bubbling over and brimming with zest.

She is lemonade.”

Lemonade sees a picture of her mother at age 10, and she looks just like Lemonade does now, but there is one difference: Lemonade is missing her zest. The picture becomes a source of inspiration for Lemonade as she attempts to live up to her name and to be the person her mother knew she was.