In A Novel Love Story, the author explores coping with and healing from loss through the characters of Elsy and Anders. The town of Eloraton acts as a safe place for these characters to process their feelings without the ever-changing variables in the real world. Elsy admits that when she first arrived in Eloraton, she “wanted to stay in a world where the plots are predictable and the endings are happy. Somewhere just as frozen as [she is]” (230). Similarly, Anders spends years in the town because its stagnancy is within his comfort level, reminding him of Rachel and their relationship. Both characters grow to welcome change by the end of the novel, processing their emotions and finding the will to move forward in life.

Throughout the novel, Elsy frequently refers to her life as “frozen” after Liam unexpectedly ended their engagement. Though this was the catalytic moment for the pain Elsy experienced over the following years, their breakup also led her to see how she had lost herself in her relationship and had not been in control of her own life for years. Elsy describes what followed by saying, “I never found my footing again, and I’d been stumbling ever since” (37).