The Truth about the Devlins

John is TJ’s older brother and the eldest child in the Devlin family. His status as the eldest son has always protected him: TJ recalls, “[Gabby] didn’t matter the way John did, neither of us did. I didn’t remember how I knew, but John was almost as important as my father in the family, a father-in-the-making” (112). This position means that his parents have always protected him from accountability, a dynamic that allows John to endanger himself, his family, and the law firm.

John, the “Good Son,” acts as a foil to TJ in the novel. While TJ has, throughout their lives, been a source of trouble for the family, John is seen as perfect, following in his father’s footsteps and preparing to take over the family business. Unlike TJ, he has always lived up to Paul’s expectations. However, as the novel continues, it becomes clear that John isn’t as perfect as he appears. TJ and Gabby both have seen, time and time again, how Paul and Marie have covered for John or outright refused to see his true nature, as when Paul remembers TJ calling Stan “Stain,” when TJ knows it was John. As TJ calls up old events that he’s forgotten, it also becomes clear that John has also emotionally and physically abused TJ. By the end of the novel, the dynamic between John and TJ has reversed, with John going to prison and TJ saving the family.

John’s character arc in the novel involves coming to terms with his gambling addiction and the way that his parents’ protection has enabled his bullying, manipulation, and lawbreaking. With TJ’s help, John recognizes his gambling addiction as a reality. In addition, like TJ, he pleads guilty to his crimes and accepts his prison sentence, illustrating his willingness to accept the consequences of his actions.

Paul is the father of TJ, John, and Gabby, the head of the Devlin family, and a prominent Philadelphia lawyer. He uses both his position and personality to create connections in the legal system, and his resulting success is one of the reasons why John and TJ have, for many years, escaped accountability for their actions. Paul’s social status is important to him, and he looks down on the family’s humble origins. This is illustrated through his habit of collecting luxury watches, a hobby that TJ doesn’t understand. Paul also idolizes Winston Churchill and has taught his children all about him. Churchill provides them a template for grappling with challenges, until the end of the novel, when the power in the family shifts from Paul to Marie, and they begin looking to Dante for guidance.

Paul is a central figure in TJ’s life—TJ idolizes his father and constantly seeks his approval, reflecting, “He’s a hard man to love. He’s an even harder man to disappoint” (20). Although Paul loves TJ, he consistently withholds approval, and this causes TJ real pain throughout their relationship.

Paul’s arc in the novel is also about accepting responsibility. He has pigeonholed each of his children and cannot see beyond the roles he assigned them when they were young. His view of John as “Good Son” and TJ as “Bad Son” is one of the reasons John can get away with his crimes for so long without being caught. He is also dismissive of Gabby’s pro bono work but by the end of the novel has reversed this attitude. Despite his narrow perspective, Paul loves his children deeply, which is shown by his willingness to take a bullet for one of them. When he and Marie support Gabby by going to her press conference, his appearance there actually ends up saving Gabby’s life.

If Paul represents the approval that TJ is constantly seeking throughout his life, then Marie represents love and support. She and TJ have been close since he was a kid, and more than anything else, TJ regrets the pain that his addiction and incarceration caused her. Marie is kind and nurturing; however, she is also sharply intelligent and, in many ways, understands both the family and business dynamics better than anyone. She handles family law for Devlin & Devlin, but as TJ says, “mostly represented husbands, a reverse-psychology switcheroo that proved surprisingly lucrative” (28). Marie loves Dante’s Divine Comedy and looks to it for guidance. By the end of the novel, the family has all realized that, as Marie says, “Churchill doesn’t say how to get through hell. […] Dante says that the way to get through hell is with love and with compassion” (310). The family’s shift from Churchill to Dante echoes the shift of the family leadership from Paul to Marie.

Unlike the other family members, whose looks reflect Paul’s Irish roots, Marie “had the only brown eyes and strong nose in our family, and her olive skin was spared our regulation-Irish freckles. Silvery strands gleamed in her onyx-black chignon and lines bracketed her mouth [but] she’d only gotten lovelier with age” (3). Unlike her children, who fall in line under Paul’s leadership, Marie quietly strikes out on her own, often playing “the wife,” as she says, while pursuing her own agenda. However, she is also the only person that holds Paul accountable for his actions; although she admits “it gets old, cleaning up after him” (136), she also understands that “[h]e has to know when he crosses the line” (136). Although Marie is just as protective of John as Paul is, she is also the first family member to believe TJ’s version of events and begin to work with him toward a solution.