They just aren't there for you or for the brother and sister. They must put one foot in front of the other, and in their isolation they fall into a different kind of love. Dunmore writes of the way people manipulate each other. Facts are never useful in these instances. Novels this good usually have a restrained author at the helm.
Some weeks there is nothing but awe.
It's not for the money. It's not for the fame. But for the good ones, it's got to be nothing but isolation and torture. Knowing, secretly, painfully, when you fail to get it right. Knowing it's in print.