Instead we learn the name of Edna, her mother, who raised her daughter only to be good. Goodness does not cushion the daughter against adversity, nor does it teach her to take charge of her life. Her story concludes when she finds direction. Compared to Hoopi Shoopi Donna, this story's Polishness is muted. Lily Wilk's immediate family is peripheral to her story, which develops when Lily is commissioned to paint the portrait of another woman's family.
Family pervades the three novels.
The first two provoke the conclusion that the lack of worldliness exhibited by the young women protagonists is the result of excessive cocooning within the family. Donna is so enamored of her family, particularly her father, that his mistaken disapproval locks her into a reactively punitive mode. Her energy and potential for further development go on hold. The nameless daughter in Selling the Lite of Heaven, has been rendered passive because her mother set no goals for her, except to be good. Donna Milewski and Edna's daughter are so dependent on their families that they have no reason, desire, or will toward autonomy.