Wild Eyes

Skylar flees her home and celebrity lifestyle in Los Angeles and heads to West’s rural hometown in the Canadian Rockies to get “a fresh start” (21), and her time there teaches them both about the transformative power of love and community. Her life has been so constricting that her “throat goes […] tight” when she tries to speak and “every word fails [her]” (21) when she tries to sing. For years, she has been forced to hide “behind a shiny veneer” (47) in order to uphold her starlet persona, and her time in Rose Hill opens her to a new way of life. On West’s ranch, she is surrounded by nature, family, love, and friends for the first time. With West and his children, Emmy and Oliver, she discovers an unexpected sense of home and belonging. Their deepening bonds illustrate the fact that authentic, reciprocal relationships can have profoundly positive impacts on personal self-esteem. For the first time, Skylar feels capable and confident because she is authentically loved. At the same time, she teaches West that he deserves an equal partner in his domestic and country life.

Skylar and West’s evolving romantic relationship offers them both a deep and meaningful connection.