Tell Me Three Things

by

Julie Buxbaum

Rachel/Dad’s New Wife Character Analysis

Rachel is Dad’s new wife, Theo’s mom, and Jessie’s stepmom. She’s a tiny woman, but in Jessie’s estimation, she makes up for her diminutive size with her exceptionally loud voice. She and Dad met through an online bereavement group; her first husband (Theo’s dad) died sometime before the novel begins. Though Rachel and Dad spend many of their evenings out and about, schmoozing with Rachel’s work contacts in the film industry, Theo tells Jessie that this isn’t normal behavior for his mom—she’s usually much more of a homebody. However, given the size of Rachel’s huge and impeccably kept white house, Jessie never has to spend much time with Rachel and therefore learn what kind of a person Rachel really is. Indeed, not wanting to make Jessie uncomfortable, Rachel tries to give Jessie her space rather than get to know her. Eventually, however, Jessie begins to understand that Rachel is truly kind and generous—she gifts Jessie plane tickets for a weekend in Chicago when she’s feeling particularly homesick—and is possibly a person whom Jessie might eventually be able to like and trust. Jessie also finds that Rachel is far more pleasant to be around once they get to know each other, as Rachel becomes quieter and more honest. She even takes Jessie’s suggestion that they put up old family photos to heart, and she gives Jessie permission to decorate her bedroom how she sees fit.

Rachel/Dad’s New Wife Quotes in Tell Me Three Things

The Tell Me Three Things quotes below are all either spoken by Rachel/Dad’s New Wife or refer to Rachel/Dad’s New Wife. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Blended Families Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

The problem was that Mom wasn’t here. That she would never be anywhere again. When I thought about that for too long, which I didn’t, when I could help it, I realized it didn’t matter much where I slept.

Certain facts tend to render everything else irrelevant.

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife, Jessie’s Mom
Page Number: 38
Explanation and Analysis:

“My dad died of lung cancer,” Theo says, apropos of nothing, and takes another long hit. “That’s why I smoke. Figure if you can run twelve miles a day and get cancer anyway, I might as well live it up.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I know, right?” Theo puts out the joint, carefully saves what’s left for later. He stands up and looks me straight in the eye. No trace of his temper tantrum left. “Hey, for what it’s worth, I’m really sorry about your mom.”

“Thanks,” I say. “Sorry about your dad.”

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Theo (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife, Jessie’s Mom, Theo’s Dad
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

This is intimate, and not in the way it was at dinner, when Rachel put her hand on my dad’s, a gesture that on reflection seemed more for Theo’s and my benefit. Now, they are bent together, forehead to forehead, and there’s a photo album I’ve never seen before open on their laps. Must be Rachel’s. Is she showing my dad her before pictures? Her dead husband?

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Ethan/Somebody Nobody/The Batman, Jessie’s Dad, Theo, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 51
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

For a moment, I think it would be preferable to listen to them have sex. This is somehow more intimate, more raw. Even worse than witnessing her midnight tears.

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Ethan/Somebody Nobody/The Batman, Jessie’s Dad, Theo, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 130
Explanation and Analysis:

“You think they’re going to get a divorce?” Theo asks, and it surprises me that my heart sinks at the thought. Not because I particularly like living here, but because we have nothing to go back to. Our house is gone. Our Chicago lives. [...] When Rachel told my dad to not come back, did she expect me to leave too? Are we kicked out?

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Theo (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

“They’re both idiots.”

“Stop it.”

“They are. They thought they could just insert replacement here and forget that someone they loved actually died. Even I’m more emotionally mature than that.”

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Theo (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 150
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

No, I don’t want to leave, but I don’t want to feel like this either. Like an interloper in someone else’s home. If I do throw up today, which is more likely than not at this point, I don’t want to have to worry about soiling Rachel’s bathroom. I don’t want to feel in constant danger of eviction.

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

There aren’t pictures of him around, which would be weird, but then I realize there aren’t very many pictures at all. [...]

The walls of my old house were covered with pictures of my family. Each of my school photos were framed and mounted in chronological order, even the ones where I was caught with my eyes closed [...]

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Theo, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife, Jessie’s Mom, Theo’s Dad
Page Number: 221
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

When I come home to find Rachel in my room, I remember that this is not my room at all. This is Rachel’s guest room, and my sleeping here confirms what I already know: I am merely an interloper.

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 226
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 33 Quotes

I think about the life I’ve built here. SN and Ethan, or maybe SN/Ethan, Dri and Agnes, even Theo. Liam too, I guess. How my new English teacher said I’m one of her brightest students, which is a huge compliment, considering I go to a school that sends five kids to Harvard each year. How Wood Valley may be filled with rich brats, but it also has a beautiful library, and I get to work in a bookstore, and I’m reading college-level poetry with a boy who can recite it back to me. In a strange way, thanks to Rachel, LA has turned out to be nerd heaven.

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Ethan/Somebody Nobody/The Batman, Jessie’s Dad, Liam Sandler, Theo, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife, Adrianna Sanchez/Dri, Agnes, Mrs. Pollack
Page Number: 304
Explanation and Analysis:

This is a house full of pain, of bad juju, as Theo said, but it’s also a house of starting over. Maybe we need to light a few candles. Better yet, start putting things on all of the white walls. “You know, I mean, this place is beautiful, but maybe you should put out some pictures too. Of your husband—I mean your, uh, other husband, Theo’s dad, and of Theo as a kid. So he can remember.”

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Theo, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife, Jessie’s Mom, Theo’s Dad
Page Number: 312
Explanation and Analysis:
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Rachel/Dad’s New Wife Quotes in Tell Me Three Things

The Tell Me Three Things quotes below are all either spoken by Rachel/Dad’s New Wife or refer to Rachel/Dad’s New Wife. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Blended Families Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

The problem was that Mom wasn’t here. That she would never be anywhere again. When I thought about that for too long, which I didn’t, when I could help it, I realized it didn’t matter much where I slept.

Certain facts tend to render everything else irrelevant.

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife, Jessie’s Mom
Page Number: 38
Explanation and Analysis:

“My dad died of lung cancer,” Theo says, apropos of nothing, and takes another long hit. “That’s why I smoke. Figure if you can run twelve miles a day and get cancer anyway, I might as well live it up.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I know, right?” Theo puts out the joint, carefully saves what’s left for later. He stands up and looks me straight in the eye. No trace of his temper tantrum left. “Hey, for what it’s worth, I’m really sorry about your mom.”

“Thanks,” I say. “Sorry about your dad.”

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Theo (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife, Jessie’s Mom, Theo’s Dad
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

This is intimate, and not in the way it was at dinner, when Rachel put her hand on my dad’s, a gesture that on reflection seemed more for Theo’s and my benefit. Now, they are bent together, forehead to forehead, and there’s a photo album I’ve never seen before open on their laps. Must be Rachel’s. Is she showing my dad her before pictures? Her dead husband?

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Ethan/Somebody Nobody/The Batman, Jessie’s Dad, Theo, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 51
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

For a moment, I think it would be preferable to listen to them have sex. This is somehow more intimate, more raw. Even worse than witnessing her midnight tears.

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Ethan/Somebody Nobody/The Batman, Jessie’s Dad, Theo, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 130
Explanation and Analysis:

“You think they’re going to get a divorce?” Theo asks, and it surprises me that my heart sinks at the thought. Not because I particularly like living here, but because we have nothing to go back to. Our house is gone. Our Chicago lives. [...] When Rachel told my dad to not come back, did she expect me to leave too? Are we kicked out?

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Theo (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

“They’re both idiots.”

“Stop it.”

“They are. They thought they could just insert replacement here and forget that someone they loved actually died. Even I’m more emotionally mature than that.”

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Theo (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 150
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

No, I don’t want to leave, but I don’t want to feel like this either. Like an interloper in someone else’s home. If I do throw up today, which is more likely than not at this point, I don’t want to have to worry about soiling Rachel’s bathroom. I don’t want to feel in constant danger of eviction.

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

There aren’t pictures of him around, which would be weird, but then I realize there aren’t very many pictures at all. [...]

The walls of my old house were covered with pictures of my family. Each of my school photos were framed and mounted in chronological order, even the ones where I was caught with my eyes closed [...]

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Theo, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife, Jessie’s Mom, Theo’s Dad
Page Number: 221
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

When I come home to find Rachel in my room, I remember that this is not my room at all. This is Rachel’s guest room, and my sleeping here confirms what I already know: I am merely an interloper.

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife
Page Number: 226
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 33 Quotes

I think about the life I’ve built here. SN and Ethan, or maybe SN/Ethan, Dri and Agnes, even Theo. Liam too, I guess. How my new English teacher said I’m one of her brightest students, which is a huge compliment, considering I go to a school that sends five kids to Harvard each year. How Wood Valley may be filled with rich brats, but it also has a beautiful library, and I get to work in a bookstore, and I’m reading college-level poetry with a boy who can recite it back to me. In a strange way, thanks to Rachel, LA has turned out to be nerd heaven.

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Ethan/Somebody Nobody/The Batman, Jessie’s Dad, Liam Sandler, Theo, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife, Adrianna Sanchez/Dri, Agnes, Mrs. Pollack
Page Number: 304
Explanation and Analysis:

This is a house full of pain, of bad juju, as Theo said, but it’s also a house of starting over. Maybe we need to light a few candles. Better yet, start putting things on all of the white walls. “You know, I mean, this place is beautiful, but maybe you should put out some pictures too. Of your husband—I mean your, uh, other husband, Theo’s dad, and of Theo as a kid. So he can remember.”

Related Characters: Jessie Holmes (speaker), Jessie’s Dad, Theo, Rachel/Dad’s New Wife, Jessie’s Mom, Theo’s Dad
Page Number: 312
Explanation and Analysis: