Both the operatives and their offspring experience the psychological toll of espionage, and the lingering damage of World War II is demonstrated as the author strategically juxtaposes the two disparate timelines to highlight the fact that strategic decisions motivated by short-term gain often have long-term consequences. 

As Charlotte learns more about her father’s life, she realizes that the discretion that was an essential part of his job caused major issues in her parents’ marriage; Rimmer shows that although Charlotte is an adult, learning her parents’ secrets causes her to feel like a child again. While Charlotte encourages Noah to pursue his new project, she begins to fear its long-term consequences, musing to herself, “I wonder if the gaps in his memory aren’t just from his injury... but maybe from trauma too. And maybe that’s why my mother was so determined that Dad should just look forward, never back” (68). Charlotte has considered her dad’s marital status to be an essential component of his identity, but learning about his wartime activities shows her that he did not always consider Geraldine to be a central force in his life. Rimmer invokes the authority of Kathleen, Geraldine’s sister, to substantiate Charlotte’s fears about her father’s emotional infidelity during the war.