My Fault

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes substance use, child abuse, and physical and emotional abuse.

Noah Morgan and Nick Leister’s life together in Los Angeles, California, inspires their respective and overlapping search for home and belonging. Both characters have fraught family and home dynamics that make them feel alienated and alone. When their parents get married and merge their family lives, Noah and Nick are compelled to reimagine what comfort and stability mean to them and discover a new sense of home and belonging with each other.

Noah’s move from Canada to the United States unmoors her and thrusts her into the unknown. After Raffaella Morgan marries William Leister, Noah wishes that she could stay in Toronto with her friends for her senior year of high school. However, because her mother doesn’t want to be apart from her, Noah is forced “to share [her] life with two people [she knows] nothing about” (1). In Los Angeles, not even the Leisters’ palatial house or William and Raffaella’s extravagant gifts can alleviate Noah’s discomfort. The author uses scenic and atmospheric details to illustrate Noah’s desire for comfort and familiarity. Sitting in her new bedroom, Noah longs to “be back in [her] old room with [her] single bed and the same clothes as always” (11).