Both Marin and Gramps suffer from, and are changed by, their grief and loneliness. How is Marin’s experience of grief and loneliness different from her grandfather’s?

The setting and the contrasts between Marin’s life in California and her life in New York are very important. What do the differences in these settings symbolize in the narrative?

Instead of a linear timeline, the novel moves back and forth between the present and the past. How does this affect the narrative? How does it affect the reader’s experience?