The Daddy's Girl Themes
by Sara Cate
Underneath its scandalous setup, the novel is really wrestling with what happens when people who have been lonely for years finally see a chance at love, and whether sacrifice and ambition can ever make room for it. It asks how much guilt a person can carry, and at what point desire stops being shameful and starts becoming a path to knowing yourself.
On this page you will find each major theme unpacked through concrete moments: the secret texts, the near discoveries, the handing over of L'Amour, and the choices both characters face. You will also find the symbols that carry the story's hidden life, the red plaid scarf, the pale-yellow sweater, 'La Vie en Rose,' and the Eiffel Tower, each one a physical reminder of love, memory, and longing.
Major Themes in The Daddy's Girl
Forbidden desire and blurred boundaries
The central conflict is the attraction between Amelia and Matis, who is her godfather, her father's best friend, and nearly three decades older. Every step forward is followed by guilt and self-denial, yet their bond keeps overriding the boundaries set by age and family role.
- Matis tells Amelia, 'I can't have what I want' and says she might as well be a child, while she insists she is a woman.
- After their passionate kiss under the Eiffel Tower, Matis stops and says 'I shouldn't have done that.'
- When Ronan finds them, he slams Matis against the wall, while Amelia declares she loves Matis.
- During their secret night in her childhood bedroom, Amelia asks 'Can I call you Daddy?' and Matis reads it as her 'claiming her stake as mine.'
Secrecy and guilt
Because the relationship is taboo, Amelia and Matis must hide it through lies, secret texts, and stolen moments. Each near-discovery makes the secret harder to keep, and Matis repeatedly feels the weight of betraying his best friend.
- Julian walks in and catches Matis in Amelia's bed, and Matis later confesses to Julian that he is in love with Amelia.
- After Matis hides in Amelia's room, he pretends to arrive through the front door and describes an 'incredible woman' without revealing it is Amelia, thinking 'I am the world's worst friend.'
- Phoenix catches them emerging from the storage closet, and Matis thinks 'This is hardly a secret anymore' before deciding to confess to Ronan.
Voyeurism as power, self-discovery, and trust
Amelia's watching begins as a hidden escape from her own feelings and becomes a way to feel in control. Eventually voyeurism is transformed into a consensual practice with Matis, where watching others reassures her of their bond rather than threatening it.
- Amelia hides in the voyeur room and later tells Matis that watching made her feel 'in control' and that 'all the noise just went away.'
- After watching a group at masquerade night, Amelia masturbates and feels the orgasm is natural rather than shameful.
- Amelia asks Geo to kiss Matis and then go further while she watches, feeling excitement and adoration instead of jealousy.
Family legacy, parental protection, and reconciliation
Ronan's retirement and handover of L'Amour to the six friends establishes that family is both heredity and choice. When that family bond is tested by Matis's love for Amelia, Ronan's protection clashes with Amelia's adult autonomy until he finally lets go and gives them his blessing.
- The group receives Ronan's email leaving the club to all six, and they toast 'To Legacy.'
- Ronan calls Amelia his 'little girl' and says she has her whole life ahead of her, while Amelia insists she is a grown woman.
- At the after-party Ronan tearfully tells Amelia he will always be proud of her and hugs Matis.
Sacrifice, ambition, and choosing love
Both protagonists must decide what future they actually want: Matis is torn between running a London club and staying with Amelia, while Amelia is building her design career. Their resolution is a shared one, where old dreams are set aside or reshaped to include each other.
- Matis tells Ronan he cannot take the London club because of Amelia, and later says, 'I'm ready for a new dream, and that dream is us.'
- Amelia applies to a fashion incubator, presents her fashion show, and afterward encourages Phoenix to put her own name in for the London club.
- In the epilogue, Amelia runs her children's clothing line Stella Moon while pregnant with Matis's child.
Loneliness, memory, and enduring love
Matis is haunted by aloneness and fears he has waited too long, while his mother's dementia means she often does not remember him. The story answers this fear by showing that love can continue even without recognition and by giving Matis a lasting family with Amelia.
- Matis tells Amelia, 'Now I'm just a lonely man, and I fear it's too late to find someone to spend the rest of my life with—however much is left.'
- Estelle seems unresponsive, then briefly whispers 'Matis' after Amelia prompts her, and Matis feels five decades of memories collapse onto him.
- After their marriage Estelle lives with Amelia and Matis, watches their daughters, and research is donated in her name after her death.
Symbols and Motifs
The red plaid scarf
A keepsake of Amelia's long-hidden love for Matis and the piece of evidence that lets Matis see she has loved him for years.
- Julian teases Amelia about the scarf she stole in twelfth grade; inside, Amelia realizes it belongs to Matis.
- Matis finds the scarf hanging behind Amelia's door and realizes she has been in love with him all along.
- After the proposal, Matis reveals he kept the scarf.
The pale-yellow sweater
The token Matis keeps of Amelia, symbolizing his forbidden longing and his attempt to hold onto her even while telling himself he cannot be with her.
- After carrying a sleeping Amelia to bed, Matis takes her yellow sweater.
- Back in his apartment, he holds the sweater to his nose and breathes in her scent while deciding he can't be with her.
'La Vie en Rose'
The song of their romance, representing the magical, permanent connection that turns ordinary moments into ritual.
- Matis hums 'La Vie en Rose' while dancing with Amelia at the empty Trocadero under the Eiffel Tower.
- In the epilogue, whenever the song plays, Matis pulls the narrator into a slow dance; in nearly seven years of marriage he has never let it play without dancing with her.
The Eiffel Tower and Trocadero
A charged, magical place in Paris where the forbidden becomes possible and where Matis later chooses a future with Amelia.
- After midnight Matis dances with Amelia at the empty Trocadero, then kisses her until he has to pull away.
- Matis sends Amelia a selfie from the Eiffel Tower and proposes when she rushes to meet him, telling her 'you are the magic.'