There has been a lot of talk about race and social class as themes of this book and one quote that I thought was really interesting was on page 11 when the twins were just born and Señora Valencia says "My daughter is a chameleon. She's taken your color from the mere sight of your face." I thought it was interesting how Amabelle doesn't really have a reaction to that but also how innocent a thing like that is to say. Señora Valencia would understand her baby's color difference if she had slept with another man but this quote makes it seem like she hadn't. Which we find out that Rosalinda favors Señor Pico's color but it makes me wonder if there was ever an issue with him being mistaken for a Haitian.
That could be the reason that he starts to act out in the later chapters. For once he had something to make sure that he would always be known as a respected military man, light skinned son. He didn't have to worry what people would say about him once he was gone because he had his son as an heir and wouldn't be associated with the Haitians.
We also talked about the color indigo and why it is used so much in the book and a lot of times purple is associated with royalty but at the same time it is the color of a bruise and I thought it could represent pain especially when she uses it on page seventy and is talking about her parents. Amabelle seems to feel lose in most of the things she does, even when she is talking to Sebastien that is the subject they have most in common.
I also liked how Amabelle pointed out the strangeness of Valencia and Pico's marriage on page 98. In a way, they were just discovering themselves and each other and death transformed their relationship. I think that foreshadows how their relationship will be in the future but also how they were labeled because of their sons death. They don't really have a connection, even then. Amabelle describes how they weren't quite comfortable and couldn't console each other in those moments.
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