"The Three of Us"

Towards the very end of the book it appears that Julia Blackburn has finally began to establish a relatively healthy relationship with her father. They would go out to the pub and talk about books or his poetry and "If things were not going well, then he would thrash about in a net of remorse and despair and irritation, but I didn't feel burdened by the drama of his troubles, simply because he didn't blame me for them" (261). She finally had the weight of feeling accountable for her fathers irresponsible actions. She was not longer the child trying to be the parent to the parent. He had also grown up in a way, finally realizing that the problems of his life were not caused by his daughter. Despite the many past tribulations, they have both moved on.

Near the very end of the book, and of her mothers life, Julia is also able to finally develop a mutual friendship with her mother. Her mother thinks "Funny to have lived close to Julia for the last twenty years, the two of them not more than eight miles apart - ten minutes by car - and yet they were not close at all, until now" (305). Even though they had always physically been close, it took Rosalie (Julia's mother) being on her death bed for them to reconcile and put the past behind them. Though they mostly resolved to forgive and forget, sometimes that is the best option because rehashing old struggles would really have not benefited either mother or daughter. As they talk and discuss some of their pasts, they realize that really they had more in common than they ever imagined. The book concludes with Julia Blackburn finally establishing healthy relations with parents, she herself overcoming the many traumas of her childhood and marrying a man who she loves and who loves her in return.

Blackburn, Julia. The Three of Us: A Family Story. New York: Pantheon Books, 2008.