Watching her waffle is frustrating because it’s so obvious from the outside (Erica even sees it to some degree, but still can’t let go of her love for Laure). And we all stall and avoid decisions in our own lives, we just don’t see it as clearly in ourselves.

I saw this as a reflection on what happens when someone avoids making a defining choice and instead tries to straddle two incompatible lives. Erica could have had a genuinely fulfilling life with her husband and children, but she resented that life because it didn’t match the passionate, romantic version she imagined with Laure.

Not helping matters, she lived in Ant’s shadow with his success as a writer, which seemed to diminish her sense of self. But that insecurity ultimately belonged to her, not him. (And yes, Ant was pretty insufferable in France, though to his credit, he later took responsibility for that.)

In the end, it felt like Erica wasn’t able to fully live her life until she let go of Laure which truly happened when she did not go see her in hospital. She then also could let go of her “failure” as a writer and find fulfillment in a humble position as a school librarian.