Three Wishes

“‘She’s made a career out of being our mother,’ Cat always complained.” 

Cat’s observation is based on Maxine’s involvement is support groups for multiple-birth parents. What Cat doesn’t realize is that raising triplets was so all-consuming that Maxine had no time for any other occupation. The girls became a career that was forced on Maxine without her consent. 

“Maxine was smiling radiantly at the camera, her hair plastered to her forehead. It was hard to imagine that girl growing up into the immaculately irritable Maxine Kettle.” 

Like Cat in the previous quote, Gemma is expressing disapproval for her mother’s behavior. Also, like Cat, she doesn’t realize how raising triplets has shaped her mother’s perspective. Maxine could hardly be expected to project a carefree attitude after such an ordeal. 

“Competition was an aphrodisiac for Cat and Dan […] Whether they were skiing or playing Scrabble or avoiding each other’s cold feet in bed, they were both equally, aggressively, in it to win.” 

Cat’s admission of her competitive streak speaks volumes about her motivation for harassing Angela. From Cat’s perspective, she is the loser, and Angela is the winner. It takes months for her to move beyond this destructive, competitive view and get on with her life. 

“Sometimes it felt like all the people in her life were scavengers, pecking viciously away at her flesh, wanting more, more, more.” 

Lyn is expressing her frustration at having to be all things to all people. What she fails to realize is that she has chosen the workaholic role she occupies among the people in her life. She has become the self-appointed family martyr. 

“Lyn came from a family of poor listeners. If you had something to say, you had to battle constant interruptions, challenges […] Michael listened to Lyn with unhurried, flattering interest. It was a brand-new experience for her. It made her eloquent.” 

Lyn is explaining her attraction toward Michael, but she is also revealing an important quality about her dramatic relationship with her sisters. One wonders if the fondue fork would have gone flying out of Cat’s hand if any of them had truly heard one another earlier in the story. 

“Cat […] wondered whether it was she or Lyn who was leading the ‘right’ life, the one they were predestined to lead […] Or were they both leading hybrid versions of the right life?” 

Cat is expressing the identity confusion that ensues every time she looks at Lyn. She is raising the issue of destiny as it applies to twins and the choices they make throughout life. The fact that Lyn slept with Dan first makes Cat wonder how much conscious control she has over the decisions she makes. 

“They weren’t identical. Lyn had something indefinable, something special, something Cat had missed out on.” 

Cat’s sense of competition extends toward her identical twin. She needs to feel superior to someone who is her mirror reflection. The problem clearly lies in Cat’s inner insecurity and flawed perception of herself. 

“Cat sighed. Every conversation with her mother was fraught with danger. It was as if they were former players from competing teams who shared a long and violent history. Sure it all seemed a little silly now but all the old antipathies about unfair penalties were still there just beneath the surface.” 

Cat’s analogy is telling. She compares her relationship with her mother to that of competing athletes. Cat’s sense of rivalry is so strong that it colors her relationships with everyone in her family. Her need to win has poisoned her interactions with them for years. 

“It always astounded Cat—this ability of her mother’s to pack away unsightly emotions, in exactly the same way she transformed unwieldy bed sheets into sharp-edged squares for the linen cupboard.” 

As in all her previous criticism of her mother, Cat fails to see the effect that raising triplets has had on Maxine’s temperament. She has always needed to keep a lid on her own emotions to manage the drama exuded by her hyperactive daughters. Cat only sees the result, not her role in creating it. 

“The girl on the front cover looked like a whimsical princess, and there was something about her expression that secretly reminded Gemma a little of herself too. It was her best self […] It delighted her that Charlie could recognize that self. Wasn’t there some rule that said you had to marry that sort of man—fast?” 

Gemma’s admission is a good indicator that her attitude toward relationships has shifted slightly in a positive direction. She recognizes that Charlie can see the real her. This makes him completely unlike Marcus, who could only see himself and never valued Gemma. 

“She had always suspected that deep within her, there was a secret seam of ugliness, of unseemliness, of something wrong that was the mirror of Lyn’s right.”

Cat is once again projecting herself as the deficient version of Lyn. The reason has less to do with her competitive instincts than low self-esteem. She’s now grown so self-destructive that she perceives herself as the doppelganger of her identical twin.

“The unspoken accusation—Lyn-the-Martyr. She’d been hearing it all her life. If she just gave people a chance, they would get around to doing things. If she would just relax, chill out, loosen up.”

Although Lyn recognizes her martyr role, she is far from believing that it is unjustified. She doesn’t trust others to follow through or keep their promises. Rather than allow imperfection to creep into her life, she will continue to carry the burden of doing everything for everyone because she knows she does it better anyway.

“An event occurred. You flicked through your mental filing case of potential emotional responses and you chose the appropriate response. That was emotional intelligence, that was personal development, that was Lyn’s specialty.” 

The irony of this statement is lost on Lyn. She defines emotional intelligence as the result of logical decision-making. Emotion never factors into her calculations, which is why she’s stumped by her panic attacks.

“I don’t have real relationships. I don’t have a real job. I don’t have a real home. The only part that’s real about me is my sisters.”

Gemma is revealing the crux of her problem. She defines herself in the context of her siblings and only as the glue that holds them together. She plays a role in the family dynamic, but a role isn’t a person. Because she has no sense of self, she has no sense of direction in life either.

“Death was the hot bath you promised yourself while you endured small talk and uncomfortable shoes. You could stop pretending to have a good time when you were dead.”

Cat is being grimly humorous, but the comment also indicates that she now views life as a chore. All her attention is on the past, which is now dead. She will continue to be one of the walking dead in her own life until she changes her perspective on the future.

“It was like every fight they’d ever had over the past thirty years was all part of the one endless argument. At any moment, without notice, it could be started again, hurtling them straight into the middle of irrational, out-of-control, name-calling fury.”

Lyn is talking about her relationship with Cat. This comment explains their relationship as one long battle. Individual incidents don’t cause fights. They simply act as catalysts to reawaken the primal unresolved issues between the two. 

“It was always like that. They never said sorry. They just threw down their still-loaded weapons, ready for next time.” 

This quote echoes the sentiment of the previous one. It also underscores the unresolved conflict between Lyn and Cat. They experience momentary ceasefires in their ongoing war, but lasting peace is never a real possibility. 

“Try not to saddle yourself with too distinct a personality too early in life. It might not suit you later on.” 

Gemma is giving this advice to her unborn baby and simultaneously revealing her main coping mechanism in life. Remaining indistinct is the only way she can survive the eternal combat between Lyn and Cat. This quote also hints at the notion that identity is a fluid construct that changes over the course of a lifetime. 

“‘Those two need to let go!’ she’d said. ‘What about me, Mum?’ Gemma had asked frivolously. ‘What do I need to do?’ ‘You’re the opposite. You need to hold on, of course.’” 

Maxine is uttering the essential moral of the entire story. Cat and Lyn won’t find peace or sanity until they learn to let go of their injuries and expectations. Gemma won’t find happiness until she learns to fight for whatever holds meaning for her.

“I thought of the baby as yours […] All the way along. I swear to you. And then all of a sudden, I started wanting—I wanted the baby and I wanted Charlie. I wanted everything.” 

Gemma has reached an epiphany about her right to want happiness for herself. She has abandoned her principal coping mechanism of giving her sisters whatever they want. She is now holding on to what makes her happy, even if it inconveniences Lyn and Cat. 

“It was like accepting the punishment handed over by the malevolent forces of fate. She wasn’t going to be a good little girl stoically picking up the pieces.” 

Cat interprets moving forward in life as a sign of defeat. Her competitive instincts cause her to view Angela as the winner and herself as the loser. This damaging assumption is what keeps her stuck in the past, trying to recreate the life she had before Dan’s affair. 

“Her future back then, thought Cat now, was like a long buffet table of exotic dishes awaiting her selection. This career or that career. This boy or that boy. Marriage and children? Maybe later—for dessert, perhaps. She didn’t realize they’d start clearing the plates away so soon.” 

Not only is Cat blaming Dan and her sisters for ruining her life, she’s also blaming herself for a lack of omniscience. This quote implies that she should have known enough to make better choices while she still had the chance. She now believes all her options have been taken away from her permanently. 

“Maybe it wasn’t giving in. Maybe it was fighting back.” 

Cat has finally turned a corner, psychologically speaking. Through the entire story, her behavior has been driven by the damaging belief that getting on with her life is an acknowledgment of defeat. This is the first time it occurs to her that moving forward can be an act of defiance against difficult circumstances.