Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in When Will There Be Good News?, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma, Survival, and Reckoning with the Past
Appearances vs. Reality
Lies and Deceptions
Family
Summary
Analysis
Jackson wakes up, unsure if Louise was really there or if he just dreamed of her. He feels unsettled by the dream because Tessa hadn’t been there. He feels as if the “train crash had caused a rift in his world.” He now remembers that Tessa had flown to America for a conference. He remembers the morning last week when they parted. They were standing in their tiny Covent Garden kitchen. He wants Tessa to be there, but he can’t quite remember her face. He doubts she would have heard about the train crash in Washington, D.C. Anyway, she’d had no idea that he was heading north to see his son in Yorkshire. That’s because she didn’t know he had a son.
Already feeling disoriented, Jackson has been further shaken up by the train crash. Seeing Louise—and not seeing his wife, Tessa—makes him feel as though his whole life is being overturned. But he’s beginning to remember details about Tessa. The fact that Tessa didn’t know about Nathan shows that, with Jackson deliberately hiding key details from her, their relationship seems not to be on the best footing.
Themes
Tessa, much younger than Jackson at 34, worked at the British Museum as a curator of the Assyrian collection. She was beautiful, but “chronically camera-shy,” rarely letting him take photos. Her parents had been killed in a car crash, and she had no souvenirs from her past. They’d met at a party at the home of his old commanding officer, Bernie, whom Jackson hadn’t seen for over 20 years. Jackson was surprised by Bernie’s posh flat and hip guests. They didn’t seem like natural friends for a guy who was ex-military police. Jackson “skulked” around the party, hating small talk, until Tessa approached him. After a few minutes, he’d boldly asked her out. Jackson “couldn’t have designed a better woman.” She was good-natured, funny, smart, and competent, “how God intended women to be.”
Various details about Tessa suggest that she isn’t quite what she seems, although Jackson does not pick up on them now. For example, not wanting photographic evidence of herself, giving no details of her past, and being Jackson’s “designer” woman all suggest that she doesn’t want Jackson digging too closely into her past. Because Jackson is otherwise a skilled investigator, these oversights are particularly striking, suggesting that Jackson sees what he wants to see, especially when his heart is involved.
Themes
The next time Jackson wakes up, a girl is sitting there. She looks about Marlee’s age. She tells him that her dad was in the Royal Scots, and Jackson finds himself becoming unexpectedly conversational. Jackson can’t figure out who the girl is. As she eats his breakfast, she matter-of-factly tells him that she saved his life. When Jackson catches on, he grins, pleased to know that he was “saved by a giggling child and not some burly paramedic.”
Jackson and Reggie finally meet. Spurred by the postcard she’d recovered from him, Reggie took the initiative to track Jackson down—not having anyone left herself, she once again gravitates to someone else who’s in need and probably lonely. Jackson is old enough to be a father to Reggie—something she’s never had.
Themes
Reggie delightedly tells Jackson that he’s in her thrall and can only be released if he reciprocates by saving her life. Until he does, she’s responsible for him. Jackson wonders if he’s “mortgaged his soul […] not to the devil but to this funny little Scottish girl.” Jackson finally feels grateful to be alive and hopeful about his future.
Reggie’s good cheer draws Jackson out of his morbid preoccupations and helps him focus on getting well. This suggests that Reggie isn’t an “angel of death” as she has feared about herself, but someone whose kindness and humor helps strengthen others.
Themes
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