One of the bingo players, Mary, is fixated on her deceased husband. At one point, Anya realizes that she would trade her own loneliness for Mary’s.
“I felt her loneliness,” Anya narrates, “and wanted it. I wanted hers. I didn’t want mine anymore.” It’s a familiar feeling, wanting to trade out of one’s problems, even for someone else’s. Yet in observing these old women, their sadness, regret, desire, Anya realizes that these problems never dissipate.
