Drawbridge Delays and Deliveries

The novel opens with a literal and metaphorical delay: Mia, heavily pregnant, is stuck at a raised drawbridge on her way to the hospital, while her sister Cricket prepares to sit on the bench for the U.S. Women's National Team in the Olympic gold medal match. The sisters' lives are entwined with soccer and family, their mother's voice echoing in their heads: "No pain, no gain." As Mia labors, she watches Cricket's game on TV, her contractions mirroring the match's tension. The bridge, a symbol of transition, sets the tone for a story about waiting, striving, and the unpredictable intersections of life and ambition.

Game Changers and Gold

Cricket, long a backup, is thrust into the Olympic final when star goalkeeper Sloane Jackson suffers a gruesome injury. With only minutes left, Cricket must overcome her nerves and seize the opportunity she's trained for her entire life. She makes a game-saving stop, helping the U.S. clinch gold. The moment is euphoric, but also bittersweet—her family isn't there, and her triumph is shadowed by Sloane's pain. Meanwhile, Mia gives birth, her ordeal paralleling Cricket's on-field heroics. Both sisters emerge changed, bonded by resilience and the weight of family legacy.

Sisterhood and Sacrifice

After the Olympics, Cricket returns home to find Mia gravely ill from childbirth complications, her kidneys failing. The sisters face an agonizing dilemma: Cricket is a match to donate a kidney, but doing so would end her soccer career just as it begins. The family's history of sacrifice resurfaces—Mia gave up her own soccer dreams to support Cricket, and now Cricket must choose between her future and her sister's life. The tension is raw, exposing the complexities of love, guilt, and the costs of ambition.

Origins of Ambition

Flashbacks reveal the family's roots: Liz, the girls' mother, was a soccer prodigy whose own career was derailed by an ill-fated relationship with her high school coach, resulting in Mia's birth. Liz raises her daughters in Maine, instilling in them a relentless drive and the mantra, "Lowes are not quitters." The sisters' childhoods are marked by early morning training, financial hardship, and the ever-present shadow of their mother's unfulfilled potential. Soccer becomes both a lifeline and a burden, a way to win love and escape the past.

Training, Triumphs, and Tradeoffs

Mia and Cricket's paths diverge as they grow: Mia, the responsible elder, sacrifices her own dreams to support the family, while Cricket's prodigious talent propels her into elite soccer. Their mother's single-minded focus on soccer and survival leaves little room for anything else. The sisters' bond is forged in shared struggle but strained by the inequities of opportunity and expectation. As Cricket rises, Mia becomes the family's unsung MVP, her own needs subsumed by duty.

Family, Fame, and Fallout

Cricket's ascent to the national stage brings fame, pressure, and the resurfacing of family secrets. Mia, now at Yale, uncovers the truth about her father's predatory relationship with Liz, shattering her idealized view of her origins. The sisters' relationship is tested by distance, jealousy, and the unresolved trauma of their past. Liz's sudden death in a car accident leaves them orphaned, forcing Mia to abandon her own future to care for Cricket. The cycle of sacrifice continues, even as the sisters struggle to find their own identities.

Loss, Grief, and Grit

The aftermath of Liz's death is a crucible for Mia and Cricket. Mia becomes Cricket's legal guardian, shelving her ambitions to keep the family afloat. Cricket, wracked by guilt and grief, throws herself into soccer, haunted by visions of her mother at the goalpost. The sisters navigate the practical and emotional challenges of survival, their bond both a source of strength and a reminder of all they've lost. Grief becomes a companion, shaping their choices and their sense of self.

Rivalries and Resilience

As Cricket's career advances, she faces fierce competition from Sloane Jackson, a charismatic and privileged rival. Their relationship oscillates between camaraderie and cutthroat rivalry, each pushing the other to new heights. Cricket's identity becomes entwined with her role as a goalkeeper, her worth measured in wins and clean sheets. Off the field, she grapples with love, sexuality, and the fear of letting others down. The cost of excellence becomes clear: isolation, injury, and the ever-present risk of failure.

Love, Identity, and Letting Go

Cricket's journey is complicated by her first great love, Yaz, a vibrant and ambitious woman who challenges Cricket to imagine a life beyond the pitch. Their relationship is passionate but ultimately unsustainable, strained by distance and Cricket's all-consuming commitment to soccer. As Cricket's star rises, her personal life falters, and she is forced to confront the limits of sacrifice and the necessity of letting go. Meanwhile, Mia finds love and stability with Oliver, but her own health crisis looms.

Dreams Deferred, Dreams Redefined

Cricket's professional career is marked by both triumph and disappointment. She wins an Olympic gold medal but is repeatedly passed over for starting roles, her rivalry with Sloane both motivating and maddening. The sisters' relationship frays under the weight of unspoken resentments and unmet needs. When Mia's health deteriorates, Cricket must finally choose: continue chasing glory, or step off the line to save her sister. The decision is wrenching, but ultimately, Cricket chooses family, redefining what it means to win.

The Price of Glory

Cricket's decision to donate her kidney ends her playing career but saves Mia's life. The aftermath is bittersweet: Cricket is celebrated as a hero, but she mourns the loss of her identity as an athlete. Sloane, now a star, reaches out in reconciliation, and the two women acknowledge the ways they've hurt and helped each other. The sisters, reunited, begin to heal, recognizing that their greatest achievements are not medals or records, but the love and resilience that have carried them through.

Breaking Points and Breakthroughs

The family's journey comes full circle as Cricket and Mia recover from surgery, supported by Oliver, Sloane, and a growing circle of friends. Cricket finds new purpose as a coach and mentor, channeling her passion into helping others. Mia, freed from the burden of illness, embraces motherhood and a new sense of possibility. The sisters learn to forgive themselves and each other, honoring their mother's legacy while forging their own paths. The story's message crystallizes: true greatness lies in the willingness to risk, to love, and to begin again.

Reunions and Reckonings

Years later, the family gathers to watch Cricket and Sloane lead the U.S. team to another World Cup final. The sisters, now at peace with their choices, celebrate the messy, miraculous gift of life. The next generation—Mia's daughter Betty—takes her place on the field, a living testament to the power of hope and perseverance. The story ends where it began: with family, with soccer, and with the enduring belief that, despite everything, life is spectacular.

Characters

Cricket Lowe

Cricket is the novel's beating heart—a prodigiously talented, fiercely driven goalkeeper whose life is shaped by her mother's ambitions and her own hunger for greatness. Raised in poverty by a single mother obsessed with soccer, Cricket's identity is forged in sacrifice and competition. Her journey is marked by moments of triumph and devastating loss: the euphoria of Olympic gold, the agony of her sister's illness, the heartbreak of giving up her career to save Mia. Cricket's psychological complexity lies in her struggle to balance ambition with love, self-worth with self-sacrifice. Her relationships—with Mia, Sloane, Yaz, and her mother—are fraught, tender, and transformative. Ultimately, Cricket's greatest victory is learning to step off the line, to redefine success, and to embrace the messy, beautiful imperfection of family and self.

Mia Lowe

Mia is Cricket's older sister and the family's unsung hero. Responsible, pragmatic, and quietly brilliant, Mia sacrifices her own dreams—first her soccer career, then her Ivy League education—to support her mother and sister. Her life is a study in deferred desire, her worth measured in what she gives up for others. Mia's journey is one of endurance and quiet rebellion: she finds love with Oliver, becomes a mother, and faces a life-threatening illness with stoic grace. Her relationship with Cricket is both a source of strength and a crucible of guilt and resentment. Mia's psychological arc is about learning to ask for help, to accept love, and to recognize her own value beyond what she can do for others.

Liz Lowe

Liz is the sisters' mother, a former soccer prodigy whose life is derailed by a predatory relationship and unplanned motherhood. Charismatic, flawed, and fiercely loving, Liz channels her unfulfilled ambitions into her daughters, pushing them to excel while struggling to provide. Her mantra—"Lowes are not quitters"—becomes both a rallying cry and a burden. Liz's death is the novel's emotional fulcrum, her absence shaping the sisters' choices and sense of self. She is both a cautionary tale and a source of inspiration, her legacy a complex inheritance of hope, regret, and resilience.

Sloane Jackson

Sloane is Cricket's chief competitor and eventual confidante—a privileged, magnetic goalkeeper whose talent and confidence mask her own insecurities. Their relationship is a study in the duality of rivalry and friendship: they push each other to greatness, but also wound each other deeply. Sloane's journey mirrors Cricket's, but with different stakes: she must learn humility, empathy, and the value of connection beyond winning. Their eventual reconciliation is hard-won, rooted in mutual respect and the recognition that ambition without love is hollow.

Oliver

Oliver is Mia's husband and Cricket's former coach, a stabilizing presence in the sisters' turbulent lives. Compassionate, patient, and quietly strong, Oliver supports Mia through illness and loss, and helps Cricket navigate the pressures of elite sport. His own struggles—with diabetes, with family estrangement—add depth to his character. Oliver's love for Mia is unwavering, and his role as a father and mentor is central to the family's healing.

Yaz (Yasmine Frankel)

Yaz is a vibrant, ambitious artist who challenges Cricket to imagine a life beyond soccer. Their relationship is passionate, joyful, and ultimately unsustainable, undone by distance and Cricket's inability to prioritize love over ambition. Yaz's presence forces Cricket to confront her own limitations and the cost of single-minded pursuit. Their breakup is a turning point, marking the end of innocence and the beginning of self-awareness.

Paula

Paula is Cricket's agent, a shrewd, efficient operator who helps navigate the business of professional sport. She represents the external pressures of fame, contracts, and public image, often clashing with Cricket's internal struggles. Paula's role is to keep Cricket focused, but also to remind her of the world beyond the field.

Betty

Betty is Mia and Oliver's daughter, a living embodiment of the family's resilience and the promise of new beginnings. Her presence is a source of joy and motivation, her future a canvas for the dreams and lessons of those who came before her.

Coach Teague

Teague is the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team, a figure of authority and judgment. Her decisions shape Cricket's fate, her approval both coveted and feared. Teague represents the impersonal, often arbitrary nature of elite sport, but also the possibility of redemption and growth.

Ro

Ro is Mia's dialysis nurse, a minor but pivotal character who offers empathy, honesty, and a reminder of the human cost of illness. Her presence is a lifeline for Mia, a voice of validation in a world that demands stoicism and sacrifice.

Plot Devices

Dual Timelines and Parallel Journeys

The novel employs a dual timeline structure, alternating between the sisters' present-day crises and formative flashbacks. This device deepens the reader's understanding of how childhood trauma, parental influence, and early choices shape adult identity. The parallel journeys of Mia and Cricket—each facing their own "game day" under pressure—underscore the themes of sacrifice, ambition, and the unpredictability of life.

Sports as Metaphor for Life

Soccer is more than a backdrop; it is the novel's central metaphor for struggle, teamwork, and the pursuit of meaning. The language of the game—goalkeeping, clean sheets, stepping off the line—becomes a vocabulary for risk, resilience, and transformation. The structure of matches, seasons, and tournaments provides a framework for the characters' emotional arcs, while the unpredictability of sport mirrors the chaos of family and fate.

Foreshadowing and Repetition

The novel is rich with foreshadowing: the drawbridge at the start, the recurring motif of "Lowes are not quitters," the rituals of training and preparation. These elements create a sense of inevitability and continuity, linking generations and reinforcing the idea that history repeats until someone is brave enough to change the pattern.

Symbolism of Injury and Healing

Injuries—both literal (Sloane's broken leg, Mia's kidney failure) and metaphorical (grief, heartbreak)—are central to the plot. The process of recovery, whether through surgery, forgiveness, or letting go, becomes a metaphor for the work of living. The kidney transplant is the ultimate act of sacrifice and healing, a literal giving of self to save another.

Narrative Voice and Shifting Perspectives

The story shifts fluidly between Cricket and Mia's perspectives, offering intimate access to their thoughts, fears, and desires. This device allows the reader to empathize with both sisters, to see the same events through different lenses, and to appreciate the complexity of their bond.

Analysis

Spectacular Things is a sweeping, emotionally charged exploration of ambition, family, and the true meaning of victory. Beck Dorey-Stein uses the world of women's soccer as both a literal and metaphorical arena, examining how the pursuit of greatness can both elevate and isolate. The novel interrogates the costs of sacrifice—what we owe to family, to ourselves, and to our dreams—and refuses easy answers. Through the intertwined stories of Cricket and Mia, Dorey-Stein challenges the myth of the self-made hero, revealing that every triumph is built on the invisible labor of others. The book is a love letter to sisters, to mothers and daughters, and to the messy, spectacular work of surviving, forgiving, and beginning again. Its ultimate lesson is that true greatness lies not in medals or records, but in the courage to risk love, to accept help, and to redefine what it means to win.

Last updated: July 12, 2025