How does the author use motif in the novel, We’ll Meet Again?

Clark's recurring theme throughout her canon is the deceptive nature of appearances. In particular, Clark is concerned with questions of trust and betrayal involving those nearest and dearest to her central characters: a seemingly loving spouse who had dark secrets and conducted hidden affairs; childhood friends and parents whose affection has always been taken for granted but who prove unreliable; employers or employees with whom longtime personal and professional ties are broken.

Molly Lasch has experienced all of these breakdowns of trust. Her husband had numerous affairs behind her back but flaunted his relationship with Annamarie Scalli, a nurse at his hospital who became pregnant by him. Molly's statement that she could kill him for such a betrayal comes back to haunt her in testimony after the nurse's death. Later, however, she learns that his betrayals go deeper than extramarital liaisons. He lied about his essential nature, about how he made his money, and about how far he was willing to go to further his ambitions.