57 pages • 1 hour read
Elin HilderbrandGolden Girl
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Growing Up After Parental Loss in Adulthood
Content Warning: This section of the guide mentions miscarriage, substance use, and addiction.
Although Vivi is the protagonist, the events that unfold in the book largely take place after her death. Nevertheless, she remains present from the “Beyond,” observing events on earth over the remainder of the summer. Hilderbrand used this circumstance of Vivi’s absence on earth but presence within the story to explore what growing up after parental loss in adulthood looks like.
The novel underlines the undeniable impact of losing a parent, even as an adult, through Vivi’s concern for her children even before they realize that she has passed away. One of the first things on her mind as she ascends is that her children still need her care. Later, when Martha grants Vivi a viewing window, she uses it to follow her children closely; she uses all three of her nudges, too, to influence their lives. As is revealed later in the book, Vivi herself has dealt with the death of a parent while she was on the cusp of adulthood. Because of this, although all three of her children are grown, Vivi recognizes that they still need her for the remaining growing up they have to do. Hilderbrand thus frames the idea upfront that growing up after parental loss is a struggle, and both Vivi’s children’s journeys and flashbacks from Vivi’s own life reinforce this idea.
Although Willa, Carson, and Leo are all technically adults grieving their late mother, their struggles look different for each of them, depending on their particular life stage. This is reflected in how and why Vivi uses her nudges with each of them. For instance, Leo is the first of the children who needs an intervention—Vivi prevents him from taking Carson’s pills. The second child who needs a nudge is Carson when Vivi allows her the opportunity to escape undiscovered from the Bridgemans’ residence. Vivi uses her final nudge to help cushion Willa’s fall and ensure Willa’s unborn child is safe. Vivi’s nudges are used first with the youngest and last with the oldest of her children, and the order already highlights that the needs of her younger children are more pressing.
Additionally, the kind of intervention also underlines how they have kinds of growing up to do. In Leo’s case, he is still young enough that Vivi can prevent him from making a bad decision altogether. Carson is older, and Vivi has been unable to prevent bad decisions from happening already. However, she can offer a moment of pause for Carson to reflect and make different decisions with her life, as she is old enough to take on this responsibility. Willa, on the other hand, is a fully grown adult who will shortly be responsible for a child herself. Accordingly, Vivi’s nudge is not used as a parent raising a child but as a grandparent protecting a grandchild. Thus, through the journeys of each of Vivi’s three children and Vivi’s unseen presence and intervention in their lives, Hilderbrand examines the different ways that parental loss impacts adult children, concluding that some growing up, even as adults, still requires a parent’s touch.
The Power of Fate and Destiny Versus Choice and Agency
Vivi’s character receives a rare opportunity to not only witness events following her death but also to intervene in them on three occasions. Using this context, Hilderbrand explores the respective roles of fate and destiny and choice and agency in how one’s life unfolds.
Although Vivi has been given three nudges, there are limitations surrounding them, which speaks to the idea of fate or destiny. While she is told she can intervene on three occasions, there are situations where Martha disallows Vivi from using a nudge or advises against it. For instance, Martha doesn’t let Vivi use a nudge to prevent Brett from coming to Nantucket. Similarly, when Vivi seeks to end Carson and Zach’s affair, Martha tells her she cannot stop it entirely—the nudge is not powerful enough to end love. Although technically, Vivi is granted agency and free will in how she can use the nudges, she learns that there are situations where her actions are powerless against what is meant to unfold a certain way. These situations thus posit an argument for fate to destiny: Some outcomes cannot be prevented.
However, the situations where Vivi eventually uses the nudges point to the opposite possibility. Vivi ends up using all three of her nudges for her children: She moves Leo’s hand away from him when he attempts to take pills; she calls Pamela and delays her arrival to the house, allowing Carson to escape unseen; and she cushions Willa’s fall to protect her child. Vivi also later learns that her father ended up using a nudge for her: He ensured that she went to college without any shampoo. Each of these nudges, although small, significantly impacts the lives of the people in question. Vivi’s three children are protected and turned away from outcomes that could see them spiral further downward or face harmful consequences, while in Vivi’s case, her entire life unfolds from her father’s single nudge: It is how she meets and befriends Savannah and ends up in Nantucket, where she builds a family, a career, and the rest of her life. That the nudges have the power to shape so much through a butterfly effect of incidents underscores the power of choice and agency: Small choices and actions can drastically change one’s life.
Along with these scenarios, Hilderbrand also presents a situation in which choice and destiny work hand-in-hand. Vivi’s decision to lie about her pregnancy negatively impacts both Brett and her: Brett’s music career never takes off, and Vivi ends up wracked with guilt about her lie her entire life. However, things eventually ended up working out for both Vivi and Brett, partly because of the lie and partly because of Vivi’s death—the latter is not a choice or outcome either of them could have controlled. Arguably, without either the lie or Vivi’s death, neither she nor Brett would have achieved the success they did. Without Vivi’s lie, the story of Golden Girl wouldn’t have existed; without Vivi’s death, Brett wouldn’t have heard about the book and gotten the opportunity to meet Willa or go on Good Morning America; without either of these, neither the song nor the book would have achieved the success they respectively did. Ultimately, Hilderbrand underscores that choice and destiny work in concert, and because what appears one way in the short term can play out very differently in the long run, it is impossible to untangle one from the other.
Introspection on Life’s Achievements and Regrets
Vivi not only witnesses life on earth after her passing, but she also revisits key moments and memories from the life that she lived. Juxtaposing one against the other, Hilderbrand offers an introspection on life’s achievements and regrets.
From the outset, Vivi appears to have had a life filled with achievements. She is wealthy and successful, having set up her own home and cared for her children after her divorce. Although not a native Nantucketer, she is beloved in the community for having put her island on the map through several well-received novels. Her passing is also deeply grieved by the people close to her, including all three of her children, her best friend, and even her estranged ex-husband. Vivi’s life thus appears full of success and contentment on both the personal and professional front, enough to spark jealousy and insecurity from characters like Amy. However, these achievements are not enough to reassure Vivi as she ascends to the “Beyond,” and she grasps at the opportunity to remain invisibly present on earth after her death.
This is prompted by how Vivi has also had plenty of heartbreaks and regrets along the way, enough to keep her tethered to and invested in how things play out down below. The biggest symbol of Vivi’s past regrets is her forthcoming book. Golden Girl, based on her high school romance, details the truth of how Vivi lied to Brett about her pregnancy. Vivi’s choice to pen this story years after it happened underlines the regret she still feels about the decision. Other regrets are not labeled explicitly but are seen in Vivi’s memories and reflections of her life. She revisits how her marriage ended because she lost respect for JP and stopped catering to his emotional needs; she reflects on how she went on a long book tour in the aftermath of JP’s affair, her absence contributing to Carson’s “troubled” nature; and she is upset by the fact that despite her successful career, none of Vivi’s books have made it to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. As full of achievements as her life has been, there have been many regrets, sizable and small, that punctuated Vivi’s life.
However, the presence of regrets in life is not seen as a mark of failure; on multiple occasions, they are interwoven with achievements. For instance, Vivi ultimately does posthumously achieve her professional dream of making it to the top of the New York Times bestseller list; however, the book that makes it there revolves around an experience that carries deep regret for Vivi. This holds true for other characters as well; Upon Vivi’s death, JP realizes that he doesn’t love Amy after all and breaks up with her. Although he regrets leaving Vivi and ultimately leaves Amy as well, these actions eventually bring him closer to Savannah. Similarly, Amy’s regret at having wasted years of her life with JP sees her turning to Dennis, who proves a much better partner for her than JP. Most telling is the final memory Vivi revisits: Willa’s wedding day, a day filled with pain, joy, heartbreak, and celebration all in one for Vivi. This final revisitation concurs with Vivi’s funeral on earth and her last day in the “Beyond.” Hilderbrand brings all these strands together at the close of the novel to underline how interwoven achievements, regrets, and everything else in between are in one’s life.
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