The entire film is an allegory of a woman's loss of self. The film represents the midlife realization of a woman that she sold out and as such is suffering because she has nothing of value in her life as a result. I hope it inspires people to pursue their passions. It is a film about selling your soul for money and the status quo in America; i.e., letting go of your core values in favor of conformity.

The protagonist as a college student swore to her mother she would never do that, that she would never become a fake facsimile of a person as her mother is, but she realizes through reading the book by her ex-husband that in fact, this is exactly what she did. Amy's character as a young woman is hopeful and she lives by her ideals and values. It is not losing Edward but the loss of who she is that is the message of this film. Edward represents her true self. She realizes in the film that she has changed so drastically that her core self and the values she actually cherishes are lost. She is bothered by this but she has no idea how to reach her core self. The husband is a representation of the true self she lost because at one time she loved him and they shared the same hopes, aspirations and values. She realizes she has in fact become her mother: everything she hates. She knows when she received the book that she wants a different life. It brings her hope and she thinks she can reconnect with who she was , her true self and in the end Edward just represents the part of herself that died along with her marriage to him. She cannot reconnect with it.

The ending could have been more optimistic had she the fortitude to change her life but this character lacks strength. The book, and her marriage to Edward and its collapse represent the loss of core values and the creative self. She has a nice house, a handsome successful husband who lacks scruples and any sense of morality cheating on her flagrantly- she has no love and nothing in her life that she actually values; in the end she comes to this realization. But she is conflicted becasue she can see no other way out. She is used to her life the way it is. This is not a film about losing a love it is a film about losing one's true self and values: selling out. She resigns herself to the fact she cannot change in the end.