The fact that CJ tells Luke that Nadia’s in Russia when she’s actually in England shows that gossip is unreliable. This is important to remember, since
The Mothers explores the ways in which people talk about each other and the impact this has on the stories they tell. Stuck in his hometown, Luke yearns to know more about Nadia’s new life. From this distance, he wrongly assumes Nadia has completely moved on from him and her abortion. Of course, readers know that this couldn’t be further from the truth, since Nadia constantly thinks about her abortion. As such, Bennett illustrates that looking at another person’s life from a distance often leads people to jump to false conclusions.