Irene in I Think We've Been Here Before: Denial, Motherhood, and the Cost of Hope

Overview

Irene is Hilda’s younger sister, the wife of Hank, and the mother of teenage Ole. In Suzy Krause’s novel I Think We’ve Been Here Before, Irene embodies the struggle between hope and denial in the face of an apocalyptic prophecy. While her sister Hilda and brother-in-law Marlen lean into grief and acceptance, Irene clings to an anonymous letter that claims the gamma-ray burst is a hoax. Her arc moves from stubborn isolation to a reluctant but heartfelt reunion with her family, culminating in a basement scene where they ride out the golden storm together.

Plot Role

Irene serves as the family member who resists the shared narrative of doom. Where Hilda processes the end through obsessive painting and Marlen through his prophetic novel, Irene invests her emotional energy in a single-page letter that promises normalcy. This makes her a foil to Marlen, who has written a book about the end, and to Hilda, who has already accepted death. Irene’s denial is not passive—it drives key plot actions: she presents the letter to Hilda at the Pot Hole café, hosts Christmas against the backdrop of societal collapse, and ultimately must face the reality that her son Ole ran away because of the tension at home.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Motivations: Irene is driven by a desperate need to protect her family, especially her son, from fear and pain. She also wants to preserve the life she knows—a small-town existence with holidays, baking, and normal routines. The letter offers her a way to keep the world intact, and she latches onto it as a lifeline.

Traits:

• Stubborn denial: When Hank reacts with rage to the letter, Irene doesn’t back down; she doubles down, even serving “Death by chocolate” dessert after the argument.
• Resourcefulness: She makes ivy garlands from old green felt, learns snowflake-making from YouTube tutorials, and plans an elaborate Christmas to ground her family.
• Emotional fragility masked by control: She breaks down when Hilda dismisses the letter, and later, when Ole goes missing, she admits her brain keeps picturing him as a helpless baby.
• Capacity for reconciliation: After Ole is found safe at Iver’s house, Irene softens. In the basement during the storm, she holds her son’s hand and feels thankfulness, not fear.

Chronological Arc

1. Thanksgiving and the Announcement (Chapter 2/ outline 2): Irene is present when Hilda reveals Marlen’s cancer. She offers support but is already unsettled by a sense of déjà vu.

2. The Letter (Chapter 13/ outline 12): Irene wakes terrified after the cosmic event news and finds the anonymous letter. It gives her immediate comfort.

3. Conflict at Dinner (Chapter 15/ outline 15): Irene reads the letter aloud at dinner; Hank knocks over his chair in rage. The fight defines their marriage for weeks.

4. Pot Hole Confrontation (Chapter 27/ outline 26): Irene shows the letter to Hilda, who calls it wishful thinking. Irene leaves hurt and later visits her father Iver, who is acting evasively (because Ole is hiding there).

5. Ole Runs Away (Chapter 18/ outline 18): Ole leaves home, partly because of the constant tension between his parents. Irene spirals into helplessness.

6. Christmas Hosting (Chapter 42/ outline 40): Irene invites Hilda’s family to Christmas, trying to build a bridge. Hilda reluctantly agrees.

7. Ole Found (Chapter 54/ outline 52): Irene discovers Ole has been at Iver’s for weeks. She is furious but quickly focuses on being reunited.

8. The Basement (Chapter 73/ outline 70): When the golden storm arrives, Irene sits with her family in the basement. She feels déjà vu and gratitude, finally letting go of denial.

Relationships

• With Hilda: The sisters love each other but clash over how to face the end. Hilda sees Irene’s letter as naïve; Irene sees Hilda as having given up. Yet they both show up for Christmas, and in the basement they are together.
• With Hank: Their marriage strains under the pressure. Hank becomes withdrawn and angry; Irene tries to control the narrative. After Ole disappears, they have a raw conversation where Irene suggests learning to love each other from “different pages.”
• With Ole: Irene is a fiercely protective mother. When he runs away, she is consumed by guilt and longing. In the basement, she holds his hand and remembers when he was a toddler crossing the street.
• With Iver: She tries to shield her father from worry, but he is hiding her son. Their relationship is one of gentle, comic misunderstanding, but Iver’s arcade surprise for Ole ultimately helps heal the family.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Decision: Clinging to the hoax letter.
Consequence: It drives a wedge between Irene and Hank, creates tension with Hilda, and likely contributes to Ole’s decision to run away.

Decision: Hosting Christmas despite everything.
Consequence: This act forces the family to gather and begin reconciling. It also reveals that Irene’s hope persists even when the world is proving her wrong.

Decision: Letting go of denial in the basement.
Consequence: She allows herself to feel the moment fully—déjà vu, love, and acceptance. This final shift aligns her with the family’s shared experience of the end.

Theme and Symbol Connections

• Denial vs. Acceptance: Irene represents denial throughout the novel. Her letter is a symbol of refusing to face reality. However, her journey shows that denial can coexist with love, and that acceptance is not a single event but a process.
• Family Bonds Under Crisis: Irene’s desire to protect her family drives both her worst decisions (clinging to the letter) and her best (hosting Christmas, seeking Ole). The novel argues that even flawed family bonds can endure when pushed to the breaking point.
• Art as Coping: While Hilda paints murals and Marlen writes a novel, Irene’s coping is domestic craft—cutting felt garlands, making snowflakes, baking lefse. These small acts are her version of art, a way to exert control in chaos.
• Déjà Vu and Repetition: Irene experiences déjà vu multiple times (the Thanksgiving dinner, the basement). This ties into the novel’s core theme that we may have “been here before,” and that each repetition can bring tiny improvements.

Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Irene believe the letter that says the apocalypse is a hoax?
Irene needs to believe the world is not ending because she cannot bear the alternative. The letter arrives at her moment of greatest fear, and its message feels like a lifeline. As she tells Hilda, it’s not about proof but about comfort—she wants to protect her son from terror and preserve the normal life she has built.

2. How does Irene’s relationship with Hank change after the apocalypse announcement?
The announcement exposes existing cracks. Hank becomes angry and withdrawn, while Irene tries to hold onto normalcy. After Ole runs away, they have a raw conversation under a half-decorated tree. Irene suggests they don’t need to be on the same page—“we just need to learn to love each other from different pages.” This marks a turning point toward acceptance of each other’s differences.

3. What role does Irene play in the novel’s theme of denial?
She is the primary embodiment of denial. Her arc shows that denial is not simply a refusal of truth—it is a coping mechanism rooted in love and fear. By the end, she does not so much abandon denial as let it coexist with a deeper acceptance, symbolized by her holding Ole’s hand in the basement.

4. Why does Irene avoid telling Iver that Ole is missing?
She tries to protect her aging father from worry, especially after realizing he has already lost his son Arnie. But her avoidance also reflects her own inability to face the reality of Ole’s disappearance. Iver later admits he kept Ole hidden because he was lost in a fantasy, showing that both father and daughter use secrecy to preserve what they cannot bear to lose.

5. What does Irene’s final scene in the basement reveal about her character?
In the basement, Irene feels déjà vu and gratitude. She remembers taking toddler Ole to the city, holding his hand, telling him to keep his eyes peeled. She realizes that the only part that ever mattered was being together. This moment shows she has moved from desperate hope to quiet, grounded love—accepting the end without needing to deny it.