Fool Me Once

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of graphic murder, domestic violence, war, PTSD, alcoholism, and suicide.

“‘All love stories,’ Maya’s father had told her many years ago, ‘end in tragedy.’”

Coben establishes the tone of the novel and Maya’s nihilistic attitude in the first chapter. While burying her husband, Joe, she recalls her father’s proclamation about love. While Maya balked at this “grim” prognostication when she was younger, both her family’s negative view of the world and her own experiences fulfill her father’s prophecy. This prophecy also foreshadows Maya’s death in the novel’s tragic ending, fulfilling the conventions of literary “tragedy.”

“She had the kind of face that lit up a room when she entered, which made it a great mask for the torment beneath.”

Maya’s appraisal of her best friend, Eileen, is both kind and cruel. Throughout the novel, Maya is critical of Eileen, whom she unconsciously blames for her husband, Ricky’s, abuse. Here, she compliments Eileen’s beauty and capacity to keep up appearances, which she did when Ricky was still a part of her life. Eileen’s “mask” represents Gender Expectations and the Performance of Identity since she does not present her true self or reveal her abuse to others.

“Sometimes, when she was with the other moms, the sounds of the rotors more than the gruesome visuals would come roaring back. Ironic, she thought, that this in-your-face, never-back-off parenting was nicknamed ‘helicoptering.’”

Even though she interacts with very few in the novel, Maya has a constant, internal tension with other moms in her socioeconomic bracket. Her military career sets her apart from them, as it has granted her a more clear-eyed version of the world in her opinion.