Soul Searching: 15 Key Questions and Answers

This page offers 15 carefully crafted questions and answers about Lyla Sage’s Soul Searching, the first book in the Sweetwater Peak series. Each answer draws directly from the novel’s plot, character development, and themes, providing context and interpretation for readers seeking deeper understanding.

1. Why does Collins pepper-spray Brady in her first scene?

Collins pepper-sprays Brady because her car breaks down in a storm on a mountain road, and he appears at her window unexpectedly. She is stranded, without cell service, and acts on defensive instinct after a year of emotional isolation.
In Chapter 1 (Collins), she decides to sleep in her car rather than risk walking for help. When Brady knocks on the window, she sprays him before recognizing him as her new boss. This moment establishes her distrust of others and her reflexive self-protection, setting the tone for her gradual opening up to Brady.

2. What does the Oscar Wilde epigraph foreshadow about the story?

The epigraph from The Picture of Dorian Gray — “I knew nothing but shadows and I thought them to be real” — foreshadows the central conflict between perception and reality, especially Collins’s relationship with ghosts.
In Chapter 2, this quote introduces the idea that what characters believe to be true may be an illusion. Collins initially thinks her ghost-seeing ability is a fixed part of her identity, but later discovers she can lose and regain it. The epigraph also hints at Brady’s hidden past and the deceptive practices of Sullivan Enterprises.

3. How does Collins lose her ability to hear ghosts, and why is that significant?

Collins loses her ability to hear ghosts about a year before the story begins, following a traumatic photography project in Alaska where she was gaslighted by her mentor.
In Chapter 5, she reflects on her bond with the ghost Elda and confesses that the voices went quiet. Chapter 13 reveals that Robert Bright and his son Jacoby undermined her confidence, making her work feel soulless. This loss symbolizes her creative block and emotional paralysis, driving her return to Sweetwater Peak and setting up her journey to rediscover both her craft and her connection to the supernatural.

4. What is the “control group” metaphor, and how does Collins use it?

Collins describes Sweetwater Peak as her “control group” — a fixed point against which she measures personal change. In Chapter 17, she tells Brady that the town never changes, so she can compare past and present versions of herself.
She fears she has changed for the worse since losing her ghost-hearing ability. The metaphor reflects her scientific approach to self-assessment and highlights her struggle to accept growth. When Brady later helps her feel like herself again, the control group concept underscores how relationships can re-anchor identity.

5. How does the “Lady in White” ritual resolve Collins’s estrangement from Clarke?

In Chapter 34, Collins and Clarke perform the childhood ritual of covering themselves with a white sheet and whispering secrets. Collins admits she came home because she lost her abilities and ran out of money; Clarke confesses she has been communicating with the ghost of Wilder Wilkes.
The ritual reconnects the twins emotionally and allows Collins’s abilities to return when Earnest and Adeline Bennett appear. This scene mends their rift, showing that vulnerability and shared secrets rebuild trust more effectively than arguments.

6. Why does Brady’s past at Sullivan Enterprises create a hidden tension with Collins?

Brady worked for Sullivan Enterprises and wrote the algorithm used to identify small towns for predatory development. In Chapter 22, he discovers that the company pressuring Collins’s family is owned by his ex-fiancée’s father.
This revelation is deeply ironic: the man trying to protect Collins inadvertently helped create the threat. In Chapter 26, Brady confesses his role, and Collins laughs rather than blames him, but the tension lingers. It forces Brady to actively oppose his former employer and earn Collins’s trust by helping her family.

7. What does the abandoned church collapse symbolize for Collins’s abilities?

In Chapter 9, the floor of the abandoned church gives way as Collins paces in frustration over her lost ghost-hearing. Brady catches her and pulls her to safety, and she whispers that she heard the ghosts again.
The collapse symbolizes the breaking point of her isolation. The physical danger forces her to rely on Brady’s protection, and the moment of crisis unlocks a temporary return of her abilities. This event marks the beginning of her gradual reconnection with both ghosts and her own vulnerability.

8. How does the photo story “Ghost (of a) Town” connect Brady and Collins before they meet?

Brady discovers Collins’s magazine feature “Ghost (of a) Town” in the secret cellar in Chapter 31. He realizes that her photography of Sweetwater Peak inspired his move to the town.
This revelation creates a profound connection: Brady was unknowingly drawn to the place Collins captured through her ghost-influenced lens. It shifts their relationship from coincidental to fated, and Brady separates his admiration for her work from his love for her as a person. Collins finds validation that her art has meaning beyond her doubts.

9. Why does Collins avoid using her camera after the Alaska project?

Collins associates her camera with the traumatic Alaska project, where her mentor belittled her work. In Chapter 7, she panics when Brady asks her to photograph his love seat, lying about a dead battery.
She explains in Chapter 13 that her best photography depends on hearing ghosts, and without their voices, the places feel meaningless. The camera becomes a symbol of her creative silence and self-doubt. Reclaiming it in Chapter 14 when she shows Brady her darkroom prints is a major step toward healing.

10. What role does Boone Ryder play in Brady and Collins’s relationship?

Boone acts as a surrogate father to Collins and a gatekeeper for Brady’s acceptance into her world. In Chapter 27, Brady goes to fix Boone’s roof, and Boone admits Collins already likes Brady.
Boone’s gruff but caring nature gives Brady a model for masculine warmth and community. By helping Boone without ulterior motives, Brady proves himself trustworthy. Boone’s later involvement (calling his brother Amos for legal help in Chapter 33) directly saves the Cartwright family business, solidifying his role as a linchpin in the story’s resolution.

11. How does the “soul searching” phrase define the novel’s central theme?

Collins and Brady explicitly acknowledge that they are both “running” and need “a little soul searching” in Chapter 11. Brady admits he moved to Sweetwater Peak to escape heartbreak, and Collins admits she returned because her abilities failed.
The phrase encapsulates their parallel journeys: both are searching for purpose, identity, and a place to belong. The novel’s plot—exploring haunted sites, confronting past failures, and eventually fighting for the town—is the external manifestation of that inner quest.

12. Why is the love seat significant in Brady and Collins’s physical relationship?

In Chapter 30, Collins and Brady have sex on a restored love seat in Coop’s shop. The love seat is a piece of furniture Brady upholstered, symbolizing his craft and his creation of a safe home.
The act transforms the love seat from a work object into a site of intimacy and vulnerability. Their laughter afterward about its fate lightens the moment, but the scene underscores how their physical connection grows from trust and mutual care, not just attraction.

13. What does the Game of Life scene reveal about Brady and Collins’s emotional barriers?

During the power outage in Chapter 20, Collins and Brady play the Game of Life while ghosts spectate nearby. Collins reveals she has never told anyone about seeing ghosts, and Brady explains why he broke off his engagement.
The game becomes a metaphor for the choices they are afraid to make. The unexpected kiss that follows happens when both lower their defenses, signaling the start of a genuine relationship. The ghostly audience reinforces that their private moment is witnessed by the supernatural world, tying their love to the town’s mysteries.

14. How does Collins’s decision to fix Boone’s roof reflect her avoidance of her own problems?

In Chapter 19, Collins offers to fix Boone’s roof immediately after her fight with Clarke, using physical work to escape family conflict.
This pattern of avoidance is a key character trait. She ignores the developer threat, her stalled career, and her sister’s pain by busying herself with others. It takes the collapse of the storm and a direct confrontation in Chapter 22 for her to finally apologize and engage with the real crises. This arc shows that healing requires facing discomfort, not hiding from it.

15. How does the divorce strategy in Chapter 33 illustrate the community’s fight against corporate development?

To stop Sullivan Enterprises from taking the Cartwright properties, the family lawyer proposes a drastic plan: Dex and Joanie file for divorce to freeze assets. In Chapter 33, the family agrees, with Boone providing connections to a real estate lawyer.
This creative legal maneuver reflects the theme of small-town resilience against corporate predation. The sacrifice—a temporary divorce—is a willing act of desperation and solidarity. It underscores that the Cartwrights will go to great lengths to preserve their legacy, and that community support (from Boone and his brother) is essential in their battle.