Everyone has things they need to think about and some of those things are better kept private. Jo was someone who hadn't looked at her life with a great deal of care; she was a person of action. She was a very decisive person. That was what made Jo appealing. It was also what made it hard for people around her who cared for her deeply, to feel close to her at times. Jo was a secretive person, though she didn't do it on purpose. Her theory was that if it happened in the past, it was not important enough for her to share with the people in her life. She thought the information would only hurt the people she loved and completely unnecessary. Her loved ones felt differently when they found out about her past. They felt alienated and deceived. It took Jo a while to recover from the mournful eyes of her loved ones. .
Jo changed a great deal throughout the novel. At first she was not content in her life with her first husband. Then she reached out and changed her personality and identity completely. When one of her close friends died in that new life, she returned to her old life. It was almost like she was being repressed into a normal life. She divorced her first husband and remarried. Jo had three lovely daughters and a committed husband. After her 3 daughters grew up, she started to get antsy and fled back to her old life. She was crippled when it didn't work out and went crawling back to Daniel in sorrow. Jo had to live with her mistake for the rest of her life. They will never fully go away and there will always be something standing in the way of complete happiness with Daniel. You can forgive, but it was impossible to forget. .
Daniel was a constant in Jo's life. He was always the steady rock that she could fall back on. Daniel dealt with Jo's inconsistencies exceptionally well. When Jo committed adultery Daniel fell apart because, in his eyes the attempt was as horrifying as the act itself. In Jo's eyes, the attempt didn't count.
