Talking at Night: A Novel

“This, their skin turned blood orange in the firelight, is new. It sets something burning.”

The imagery of skin transforming in the firelight invokes an intense atmosphere, as fire symbolizes both warmth and danger. Their meeting at the bonfire—the novel’s inciting incident—represents a transformative moment for Will and Rosie. The image of the fire evokes desire, passion, and emotional awakening, as well as the duality of illumination and potential destruction.

“Counting not her steps this time, but the seconds. Elongating the numbers, over and over, in this way that she does like blood flow, unable to stop.”

Daverley’s use of sensory details in the passage capture Rosie’s sense of urgency and the fluidity of time in her OCD rituals. Her desire to lengthen the moment reflects a conflicting need to both savor and escape them, highlighting the tension of her struggle. Comparing the ritual of counting to her flowing blood creates a visceral connection to life and instinct, underscoring the involuntary, primal quality of her rituals. Rosie’s experience emphasizes her attempt to regain a sense of control in the context of her anxiety and OCD, underscoring The Individualized Nature of Mental Health Concerns.

“The school looks like a chalk and charcoal drawing, shapeless and smudged.”

Daverley uses a vivid simile to compare the school to a chalk drawing, which can easily smudge and disappear. The imagery of a shapeless, smeared drawing evokes a sense of indistinctness and uncertainty, mirroring Rosie’s anxiety about the future and her indecision about dating Will.