There are so many aliases and cases of confused identity in Briar Rose that you'd be forgiven for mistaking it for a spy novel. (Though, admittedly, Grandma Gemma seems like a pretty weak spy name.)
We can only speculate why Gemma's family didn't know her "true" identity until after her death. Was it purely a matter of Gemma's need for privacy? Or was it more a matter where no one in her family thought to ask?
Besides the whole secret-past thing, Briar Rose is a story about Polish identity, but it's also a story about American identity (and first-generation American identity, second-generation identity, and so on). Where identity goes, there are a lot of levels, and many of them remain unresolved.
Questions About Identity
- Why do you think the identity of Briar Rose was appealing to Gemma?
- Gemma had an awful lot of aliases. Why did she need so many?
- In what ways are Becca and Gemma similar? In what ways are they different?
Chew on This
Past is prologue. Becca can't really know who she is until she understands where her family comes from.
Past is extraneous backstory. Learning about where her family comes from won't change anything about Becca's modern life.