The motif of home represents safety, belonging, and the desire for stability. Each character possesses a different definition of the concept of home, reconciling the difference between home representing a physical place, a state of mind, or the presence of loved ones. Win, whose family fortune entitles him to many physical properties, has limited friendships and emotional connections. He finds it easy to bounce from place to place unencumbered by the needs of others and doesn’t feel the concept of home deeply. Deeply emotional Myron finds reassurance in returning to his parents’ house, a sacred place for him. Mickey has been wounded by his parents’ drug use; he finds a home with his grandparents. Brooke’s home can never be a sanctuary for her; it will forever be the place where her baby boy was taken from her. The Moores’ home was shattered by Nancy’s horrible crime, forever fragmenting their family. Clark and Francesca find a home with each other, bound by the shared trauma of losing a sibling. Both felt neglected by their parents but benefited from the presence of the one other person who knew what they were going through.

The novel also considers the fragility of home—because it is more than just a physical place, although the Moores and Baldwins wanted their boys to come home, this would never be possible for either family.