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Joe Seed, Nora’s gay older brother, is a struggling musician in Nora’s root life, and he resentfully holds Nora responsible for his failures. The golden child of the Seed family, Joe was often favored by Nora’s parents and expected to be the more successful of the two siblings. These expectations caused a rift in Nora and Joe’s relationship, which plays out in different ways in Nora’s different lives. Sometimes Nora and Joe succeed together, as in the life in which Nora is an Olympian. Sometimes, one seems to succeed at the detriment of the other, such as when Nora becomes a rockstar and Joe dies of an overdose. No matter the exact outcome, Nora and Joe’s fates are intertwined. Though, in Nora’s root life, she is estranged from her brother, they reconcile in the end, realizing that their battles with each other are far less important than their love for one another. Joe realizes that he has blamed Nora for problems that were his own, and Nora feels more capable of living on her own terms, without taking responsibility for her brother’s happiness. In this way, the end of the novel promises a more open and loving relationship between the two siblings and the chance of the good life for both of them.
