This Time Next Year

Quinn is the novel’s second protagonist, though his point of view is provided only in flashbacks. These flashbacks reveal that, like Minnie, he also has a complex relationship with his birthday. They also cement that he and Minnie have long led intersecting lives, framing their romance as fated. Quinn grew up in a wealthy family but had a lonely, difficult childhood. As a child, he is acutely aware of his mother’s struggles with mental health after a traumatic miscarriage and his father’s departure, wondering, “If it hadn’t happened, would his mother be more like a normal mother?” (130). Balancing Tara’s needs with his own grows increasingly fraught, especially around his birthday, which is the anniversary of his father’s departure. One New Year’s Eve, his first girlfriend breaks up with him because she is tired of competing with Tara for his time, leading Quinn to realize that “[t]his feeling of being made to be a bad boyfriend or a bad son, he hate[s] it; it ma[kes] him feel physically nauseous” (199).

Quinn avoids speaking directly about his family situation, but his suggestion that Minnie bring Tara one of her pies is an early indication that he trusts Minnie, even if Minnie lacks context. He does eventually explain Tara’s anxiety and agoraphobia. This explanation is followed by the zoo outing with Minnie, where Quinn fights his attraction to her, assuring her that he is not a suitable partner.

Through the flashback sequences, the reader has full access to Quinn’s history with relationships and struggles with intimacy. The narrative reaches its turning point when he finally shares this information with Minnie, explaining that he went back to therapy once his rejection of her showed him that his trauma was dictating the course of his life. He tells her, “I don’t want to be the cardboard girl” (303), a metaphor for emotional detachment that he previously used to explain his refusal to pursue her. Quinn works to assure Minnie that he, too, has embraced transformation, but she fears further rejection. Quinn shows his own growth by returning to Minnie at the end of the novel. To show her that he accepts her as she is, fears of her birthday and all, he declares, “If you want to stay in and hide from the jinx, I will stay and hide with you” (325). To embrace Minnie as his romantic partner, Quinn accepts her superstitions, underlining the depth of his character growth.

Minnie’s best friend, Leila, is exuberant and brash in contrast to Minnie’s reserved nature. She often chooses flamboyant, vintage clothing and dyes her hair to reflect her personality. She and Minnie have been close since their teens, and she pushed Minnie to consider becoming a chef and launch her own pie-making business. Though the two have a falling out over the dissolution of their business, they soon mend their friendship, in part because Minnie becomes more open to Leila’s gentle criticism of her usual pessimistic approach to life. When Minnie is upset by Quinn’s first rejection, Leila tells her, “[Y]ou let other people screw with your sense of self worth too much,” and that Leila herself focuses on whether a man is “cut out to be the beneficiary of [her] excellent Leila energy” (221).

Leila’s engagement and marriage provide key opportunities for Minnie to examine her life and embrace her potential. Ian’s love for Leila inspires Minnie to end her uninspired relationship with Greg, and Minnie embraces planning their elaborate marriage proposal. When Leila is bemused by the Disney theme, Minnie focuses on her friend’s happiness. Leila’s toast at her wedding emphasizes Minnie’s organizational skills in rescuing the ceremony after a flood at the original venue, assuring the Cooper family that only Minnie could have risen to the occasion. Leila also pushes Minnie to pursue Quinn after she rejects him, reminding Minnie that chasing happiness is worthwhile. As a character who has already embraced transformation, Leila underlines the theme of Transformation and Change in Minnie’s life, along with her demonstration of the Power of Family and Community Bonds.

Quinn’s mother, Tara, meets Minnie’s mother the night they are both in labor, a chance meeting that changes both of their lives. Tara is anxious and timid, exhausted from days of labor. Her subdued nature contrasts sharply with Connie’s exuberance, in addition to their class differences. Due to overcrowding at the hospital, Connie becomes Tara’s informal labor coach. Quinn is born one minute before Minnie, receiving a large cash prize for being the first baby born in 1990. Later sections emphasize Tara’s fragility, as a late-term miscarriage ends her marriage and exacerbates her long-standing struggles with anxiety, leading to agoraphobia. As she takes in Tara’s delicate features, Minnie realizes that “she look[s] like a film star” (83). When Minnie accidentally breaks a lamp, Tara becomes deeply upset, which is Minnie’s first clue that Quinn’s privileged life may be more complex than it seems. In flashbacks, Tara mostly appears in the form of her voice on the phone, constantly interrupting Quinn’s attempts to socialize away from home and have personal relationships.

Minnie tells her mother about meeting Tara, and the two reconnect. A restored bond with Connie helps Tara develop her coping mechanisms, and by the end of the novel, she is calmly hosting houseguests. Tara is supportive of the bond between Minnie and Quinn and expresses guilt for relying on her son so much. She tells Minnie, “You’re what she needs, I can see it” (280). By the end of the novel, Tara calls Quinn only to ensure he has found Minnie, not to ask him for support. Her evolution and healing process underline the novel’s themes of friendship and transformation.