The Anahita Statue: Symbol of Love and Conflict in The Bullet That Missed
What the Anahita Statue Is
The Anahita statue is a bronze figurine of the Persian goddess Anahita, identified by the antiques dealer Kuldesh Sharma as “the Persian goddess of love and battle.” It first appears in Kuldesh’s Brighton shop, Kemptown Curios, where Donna De Freitas spots it while the group is investigating a cache of stolen books. Donna responds immediately—“Love and battle, good for you, Anahita. I love her”—before learning its £2,000 price tag and carefully setting it back down.
The statue’s dual nature is central to its symbolic function. Anahita presides over two domains that the novel repeatedly brings together: romance and violence, affection and danger. The Thursday Murder Club’s world is one in which these forces routinely intermingle, and the statue literalizes that combination in a single object.
Where the Statue Appears
The statue appears at three key moments in the novel. First, it is an object of admiration in Kuldesh’s shop, where Donna’s enthusiasm is noted by Bogdan. After the group’s business concludes, Bogdan lingers behind and asks, quietly, “The statue that Donna liked? How much for cash?” This moment establishes that Bogdan has registered Donna’s interest and intends to act on it.
Second, the statue reappears as a gift. Bogdan presents it to Donna as an “award,” explaining that he feels bad for missing her police awards ceremony. He tells her he wanted to have it engraved but “apparently you’re not supposed to.” Donna is stunned—“Bogdan, it was two thousand quid!”—but Bogdan reveals that Kuldesh sold it to him for a single pound, with a message for Donna to “keep dodging the bricks.” This phrase references Kuldesh’s earlier story about the bricks thrown through his shop windows in the 1970s, when the Brighton police offered him no help. The message is a wry acknowledgment of the dangers Donna faces in her police work.
Third, the statue appears in the home of Elizabeth and Stephen, where Donna and Bogdan arrive as a newly established couple. Stephen recognizes it immediately: “Our old friend Anahita… Goddess of love and battle. Most appropriate.” By this point the statue has become a marker of the couple’s relationship, and Stephen’s comment confirms that the statue’s dual nature is fitting for two people whose lives are defined by both affection and conflict.
How the Statue’s Meaning Changes
Across these three appearances, the statue’s meaning shifts from desire to commitment to belonging. In the shop, it represents something Donna wants but cannot justify buying—a beautiful object in a world of expensive, slightly dubious antiques. When Bogdan asks about the price, the statue becomes a potential gift, a sign of his attention to Donna’s preferences.
As a gift, the statue transforms into an emblem of Bogdan’s feelings. The fact that Kuldesh sold it for £1 rather than £2,000 is significant: the statue’s monetary value is deliberately erased, replaced by a symbolic value. Kuldesh’s condition—that Bogdan answer whether he is in love with Donna—makes the purchase itself an act of confession. Bogdan’s “yes” is the real price of the statue.
By the time Stephen sees it, the statue has become a household object, carried by Donna into Elizabeth and Stephen’s home. It no longer needs explanation; Stephen recognizes it and immediately understands what it signifies. The statue has moved from the commercial world of the shop to the intimate world of the couple.
Character Connections
The statue connects several characters. For Donna, it represents recognition—both Bogdan’s recognition of her professional achievement (the “award” framing) and his recognition of her as someone worth loving. Donna’s career as a police officer places her in the “battle” half of Anahita’s domain, while her relationship with Bogdan places her in the “love” half.
For Bogdan, the statue is an act of self-revelation. He is described as unused to public displays of affection, and the gift is a rare, concrete expression of his feelings. His willingness to pay for the statue—even at the reduced price of £1—and to answer Kuldesh’s question honestly shows a character stepping out of his usual reticence.
Kuldesh’s role is also important. His decision to sell the statue for £1 is not merely a bargain; it is a blessing. Kuldesh, who has his own history of being mistreated by the police, nonetheless extends goodwill to Donna through the statue. His message to “keep dodging the bricks” is both a warning and an encouragement, acknowledging the dangers of her work while wishing her well.
Stephen’s recognition of the statue ties it to the older generation’s perspective. His comment that it is “most appropriate” suggests that he sees the fit between the statue’s meaning and the couple’s circumstances—a perception that carries weight given Stephen’s own history with Elizabeth, a relationship that has similarly combined love and conflict.
Thematic Significance
The statue’s most direct thematic connection is to the novel’s treatment of love amid conflict. The Thursday Murder Club’s investigations routinely place its members in danger, and the relationships that sustain them—between Elizabeth and Stephen, between the four friends, and now between Donna and Bogdan—exist alongside that danger. The statue embodies the idea that love and battle are not opposites but companions.
The statue also connects to the theme of friendship and loyalty as a counter to isolation. Kuldesh’s willingness to part with a valuable object for a nominal sum, and his message to Donna, extend the novel’s network of loyalty beyond the central group. The statue becomes a token of that extended community.
Finally, the statue’s journey from shop to home mirrors the novel’s broader interest in how objects acquire meaning. The statue is the same bronze figurine throughout, but its significance changes entirely depending on context. This is consistent with the novel’s exploration of how stories and objects are invested with meaning by the people who handle them.
Study Questions
1. Why does Kuldesh sell the statue to Bogdan for £1 rather than its £2,000 price?
Kuldesh sells the statue for £1 because he is moved by Bogdan’s honest answer to his question. When Kuldesh asks whether Bogdan is in love with Donna, Bogdan says yes, and Kuldesh responds by effectively giving the statue away. The £1 price is nominal; the real transaction is Bogdan’s confession. Kuldesh’s gesture also extends goodwill to Donna, whom he tells to “keep dodging the bricks”—a reference to his own experience of being targeted in the 1970s and a wish for her safety in her police work.
2. What does the statue’s dual identity as “goddess of love and battle” suggest about Donna and Bogdan’s relationship?
The statue’s dual identity suggests that Donna and Bogdan’s relationship is defined by both affection and conflict. Donna’s work as a police officer places her in the “battle” domain, while her relationship with Bogdan—a man with a complicated past—places her in the “love” domain. The statue implies that these two aspects of life are not separate but intertwined, and that a relationship can be strengthened by the challenges it faces. Stephen’s comment that the statue is “most appropriate” reinforces this reading.
3. How does the statue’s meaning change from its first appearance to its last?
In its first appearance, the statue is a beautiful but unaffordable object in a shop—something Donna admires but cannot have. In its second appearance, it becomes a gift and an “award,” symbolizing Bogdan’s love and his apology for missing Donna’s ceremony. In its third appearance, it is a familiar object in a friend’s home, recognized by Stephen and accepted as a natural part of the couple’s life. The statue moves from desire to commitment to belonging.
4. What does Kuldesh’s message to “keep dodging the bricks” add to the statue’s meaning?
The message connects the statue to Kuldesh’s personal history and to the dangers of Donna’s profession. Kuldesh’s shop was attacked with bricks in the 1970s, and the police offered him no help. His message to Donna is a wry acknowledgment that her work as a police officer puts her in harm’s way, and a wish that she continue to avoid the dangers that come her way. The message adds a layer of lived experience to the statue, linking the “battle” half of Anahita’s domain to real, historical violence.
For more on the novel’s broader concerns, see the book overview, the analysis of deception and moral compromise, and the exploration of aging, memory, and lived experience.