One of Us Is Next

Maeve’s narration is intertwined with her own personal battle with leukemia. At the start of the novel, Maeve leans on her tendency toward superstitions in the effort to find comfort and security in her uncertain and scary battle with cancer. For example, Maeve spills salt while sitting at Café Contigo, and immediately throws a pinch of it over her shoulder. She learned this trait from her grandmother, Ita, who gifted her a lucky bracelet and who taught her that when clocks are stopped, “Time is literally standing still” (64). Through these superstitions and good luck charms, Maeve establishes a sense of security amidst the uncertainty of her cancer and her future. She continues to partake in these good luck charms and mannerisms but uses them, not just to find solace with her leukemia but with the entirety of her major life decisions. These superstitions come to represent Maeve’s inability to take control and an active role in her own life.

Maeve’s superstitions foreshadow certain events. For example, when the reader first meets Maeve, she is at Café Contigo watching Cooper play baseball. Unfortunately, Cooper and his team lose, and Maeve becomes uneasy about what this lose may mean. Maeve locks eyes with Nate, Bronwyn’s boyfriend, who looks at her as if to say, “It doesn’t mean anything, Maeve It’s just a game” (16).