In an Instant

“She knew. Before it happened. And I wonder, How? Was it because she was a prophet, a visionary gifted with preternatural premonition? Or was it exactly as Mo said—a rational, well-considered protective stance based on the simple understanding that no one watches over yours the way you watch out for your own, knowing hers would be saved second if a choice needed to be made? These are the things I wonder, now. After.”

Redfearn’s use of a Prologue set in the future immediately establishes a strong tone of tension in the plot. This passage also foreshadows the accident without disclosing any details, further strengthening the novel’s tension.

“Rocky waters have reached squall levels at home. Between my parents’ constant fighting; the growing problems with my brother, Oz; Chloe’s frequent acts of rebellion that seem specifically targeted at pissing off my mom; and my own recent screwups, I think I spend more time at Mo’s house these days than my own. Like an active volcano, five minutes together inevitably triggers some sort of eruption, and three days together is going to be like tempting Mount Vesuvius to blow.”

Just as Redfearn sets a strong tone of tension at the novel’s outset, she also establishes fraught internal and external conflict among the characters. The author will continue to develop this conflict during and after the fatal car accident they experience during their trip. The parallel between the weather and the dynamics within the family foreshadows the disaster to come.

“It’s shocking yet entirely natural. Like birth, I think. I do not remember being born, the pain entering the world, yet I knew to breathe, to suckle, to cry. Death is a lot like that—I have no recollection of the exact experience, the trauma of dying, but my understanding of this new state is innate. A bit difficult to accept and slightly unbelievable, but intuitively I recognize that I am dead and that my body is no longer part of me.”

This passage describes the moment Finn dies in the accident and signifies her separation of consciousness from body. Because Finn is dead and can move among her loved ones more easily, she becomes a more reliable narrator and can see more interaction among the characters. Finn’s new perspective as a narrator foreshadows the changes to come in her perspective as a character.