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Sharon, Tish’s mother, embodies the book’s theme of how families strengthen one another through their support. From the beginning of the novel, Sharon focuses on giving Tish strength by greeting the news of the baby with love. She leads the rest of the family to see the moment as miraculous, using the brandy she has saved from her early life as a singer to make the announcement into a sacrament. In addition to giving others strength, Sharon’s devotion to her family gives her the emotional fortitude to go beyond her usual boundaries, flying to Puerto Rico despite her hatred of planes and confronting Pietro and Victoria despite her discomfort in the nightclub and at the shantytown. Sharon is a maternal figure to Fonny as well as to Tish, a role she tries also to extend to Victoria. For all those she mothers in the book, she seeks to help guide them from childhood into adulthood, reminding Tish that to be a woman is to be strong for her family.
