The Soulmate: A Novel

Pippa is the protagonist of The Soulmate, and the novel is shaped by her personal development, driven by the revelations of the novel’s mystery plot. This development is especially focused on the multiple aspects of Pippa’s identity as a wife, mother, careerwoman, and individual and the ways in which she navigates the priorities of these various aspects. When the novel begins, Pippa is married to Gabe and has two daughters, Freya and Asha. She has also just gone back to work full-time in a home office, while Gabe takes care of the girls full-time, following Gabe’s work crisis.

Pippa’s first-person voice reveals how she sees herself and wants herself to be seen but also hides aspects of her character, as is typical of an unreliable narrator. Pippa plays by the rules, telling the reader, “I’m not the kind of person who lies to the police. I am the epitome of a good citizen” (15). She does this, however, for the same reason she’s “always found coloring quite soothing—all those lovely colors staying neatly within the lines” (16). Pippa likes stability, and she realizes that her attraction to Gabe might be because “[her] family was so stable, maybe it made [her] yearn for instability” (54).