e., someone "in" the family but not "of" the family. This motif of the alcoholic father's emotional separateness is implied "between the lines" of the story, e.g., through other characters' attitudes and actions vis-a-vis Mr. Vincent and each other, rather than as an explicit theme. For example, Mr. Vincent is often found quietly doing things that allow him to be detached or separate: reading and/or doing some sort of physical work around the house and yard, by himself or at least at a considerable distance from the others. As the narrator tells us, also, near the beginning of the novel as the children and their mother get ready to go to church: "Dad only comes on Christmas and Easter, because he's not Catholic" (p. 3). And, as we learn, even more sadly, a short time later: "mum hardly ever plays with us because she has to do everything else" (p. 14). .

             The mother and children (like most families with similar, never-discussed family secrets) dance around the difficult fact of Mr. Vincent's alcoholism, as best they can, in their day-to-day lives, carefully denying, walking on eggshells, the reality of Mr. Vincent's alcoholism. Mr. Vincent's alcoholism and its effect on his family is, in fact, both a theme and a major source of tension. In fact, the book itself could be accurately described as being "about" a childhood, seen through the eyes of one of the Vincent children, spent growing up in a home with an alcoholic father, in which the father's alcoholism is not acknowledged. The tension between the parents, due to this "family secret" is nearly palpable in much of the story. Minot implies to the reader that in a family like this, with a secret, everyone suffers, and everyone's authenticity is compromised by the need to maintain an uncomfortable lie.

             Further, within Minot's novel Monkeys (2000), social class plays a role, in that, within upper-class families like this one, the importance of everything's appearing "perfect", at least from the outside, is crucial to maintain.