Aha!
In what may be the only true connection present in this storyline, I finally see what the author might be trying to say with this book. At one point near the end, Lydia shows up on her father’s doorstep after the horrible fight between Daniel and Miranda “on principle,” because it was Tuesday Teatime, and that was her father’s day to have them over. They start to argue and Lydia makes the point that if there is nothing really left of the marriage, then the only purpose they have at all is to do what is right for the kids - they are the only ones left to salvage, and the fighting isn’t helping anything. This reminds me so much of the conversation the kids and Daniel had about why he couldn’t simply “act” his way through the marriage in order for things to work. It’s not worth it to salvage a marriage, for Daniel to act simply to make it work… they need to start looking to what is best for the children so that they can get away from how hurt they (Daniel and Miranda) are. It seems like a simple message (and one I could probably have guessed) but again, it’s a shame that more time was given in this novel to gruesome pantomimes from Daniel about nefarious ways to maim his ex-wife.