The Truth about the Devlins

“When we were growing up, she used to save wrapping paper and give us blank birthday cards so that they could be reused. The first time she signed my birthday card, I knew we were rich.”

In the present, they are a wealthy and influential family in Philadelphia, but TJ remembers when his parents struggled to make ends meet. While he and his mother both look back on those times with fondness, Paul and John do not, setting up an underlying family conflict that revolves around class. This issue also ties into the theme of The Intersection of Justice and Privilege, as the Devlin family comes to grips with how their privilege has allowed them to escape accountability.

“I was a better player than my brother, but I never got a game ball.”

This quote adds another layer of tension to TJ and John’s relationship. Scottoline highlights how their father, Paul, adds to and complicates their relationship as well. Because John is the “Good Son,” and TJ is the “Bad Son,” John gets a game ball while TJ never does, even though he is the better player. This favoritism will play out throughout the novel, clouding Paul’s perspective on his sons and obscuring the truth about John’s crimes. TJ’s relationship with his father is important to him, and despite this dynamic being in play since they were children, he still seeks his father’s approval throughout the novel.

“Your sobriety, your sobriety. The whole damn family has to talk about your sobriety twenty-four seven, the same way we used to talk about your drinking twenty-four seven. We don’t drink on a single holiday because of you. Whether you’re a good boy or a bad boy, somehow it’s always about you. You have to be the center of attention, since the day you were born.”

TJ’s recovery is his highest priority, but here John offers a glimpse into how it affects the rest of the family. However, John’s comments also reflect his envy at his perception of TJ as the center of attention. Ironically, TJ considers John to be the center of attention of the family, at least when it comes to their father, whose attention and approval TJ craves, and John has always unthinkingly received.

“‘You remember? I used to bring you here. You met Stan, with the birthmark? You used to call him Stain.’

‘No, John called him Stain.’

‘The point is, that’s how long ago I represented him.’”

This exchange between TJ and his father illustrates Paul’s tunnel vision when it comes to his sons. Because in his mind, TJ is the bad son, he attributes everything negative to TJ. However, when TJ confronts him with the truth—that John was the one who gave Stan the nickname—Paul brushes it aside and redirects the conversation. His inability to shift his perspective on his sons will continue throughout the novel until TJ, and the facts, force him to recognize the truth of the matter and his own limited perspective.

“The death of a random accountant had become yesterday’s news. Seeing Lillian’s anguish this morning had put a face on the loss for me. I tried to shake it but couldn’t.”

With TJ’s reaction to Lillian’s grief further develops his character. TJ is deeply sensitive and empathetic—in the face of Lillian’s grief, he is reminded of Neil as an individual, not just a piece in the mystery’s puzzle. TJ’s sensitivity and empathy are juxtaposed with John’s lack of those qualities as the novel continues, developing the brothers as foils.

“Joe grinned back, and I felt amazed that I was talking with a man facing his own demise with bravery, even humor. He was about my father’s age, and I wondered how I’d feel if my dad were dying. The thought tore me in two, my love and anger a one-two punch.”

TJ’s visit to one of Gabby’s clients, Joe Ferguson, is an eye-opener for him. His parents and John all disparage Gabby’s pro bono cases, and TJ, as an investigator, has been on the fringes of the family business—this is the first time he sees what Gabby is really doing. TJ’s characteristic sensitivity and empathy are on display in this quote, and the connection with Paul further personalizes what Joe is going through. This scene proves pivotal for TJ, as he sees the injustice that Gabby is trying to right, and fully commits to supporting her, prioritizing her case over John’s troubles.

“‘Anyway what are you going to do, TJ? You’re going to run it down like a cop?’

‘No, like an investigator.’

‘You’re not a real investigator.’

‘I am now,’ I said, feeling it for the first time.

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’”

This exchange between TJ and John illustrates the dynamic that has been in place since they were children, but which is slowly shifting over the course of the novel. The shift is clear in TJ’s response to John’s disparaging comment, and his comment that he was “feeling it for the first time” shows both that this is a major change, and TJ actually feels the difference. He is not just pushing back against John’s manipulations; he is coming into a different sense of his self-worth. This shift is a turning point that will drive TJ’s eventual move to oversee the firm as they investigate John’s activities.

“‘I never realized how much I loved this office until I saw it in this state. This is my place, even more than the house. It’s mine.’ She surveyed the damage, clucking. ‘You know Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own? […] This is the room that’s mine. Everything else I share, every single room in the house. But not this.’”

In the beginning of The Truth About the Devlins, Marie is often relegated to a supporting role, which reflects her status in the family as well. However, TJ is very close to his mother and as the novel continues, they connect on a new level, as seen in this scene. Marie opens up to TJ as a peer and confides the difficulty in establishing her own identity in the Devlin family.

“Powerless. I started to get out of the car but stopped myself, experiencing an epiphany. It wasn’t wanting to drink that had driven me to the meeting. It was a feeling of powerlessness. I’d had it since last night, when John told me to forget about the investigation. I wasn’t in prison anymore and I was no longer a baby brother, but I was still acting powerless, doing what I was told.”

This epiphany is a pivotal moment, both in TJ’s life and in the novel’s thematic exploration of The Journey from Addiction to Recovery. The powerlessness that he feels is rooted in his relationship with John and a dynamic that has been in place since they were children. His relationship with alcohol mirrors his relationship with John.

“‘You’re sneaky.’

‘No, I’m sly. Sneaky people are dumb. Sly people are smart.’”

Here, Marie draws a distinction between “sneaky” and “sly” that echoes TJ’s comments at the beginning of the novel about “smart dumb people” and “dumb smart people.” This passage emphasizes the close connection between TJ and Marie by showing how similarly they think. This exchange also emphasizes, once again, the importance of intelligence to all the Devlins.

“We walked out of the room finishing Churchill’s speech, drummed into us verbatim. Gabby felt buoyed, but I knew better. The other side had money and might. All she had was me, and I wasn’t enough.”

Winston Churchill is a motif in the novel and in the Devlin children’s lives. In this scene, TJ uses Churchill’s speech to reenergize Gabby and prepare her for the Holmesburg case. However, in his mind, he is much more cynical about The Intersection of Justice and Privilege. In addition, the final sentence highlights TJ’s continued lack of self-esteem, a feeling that will shift as he begins to understand his own worth and position in the family.

“[Mike says], ‘So the Shah comes to the wake, he’s got his doubts, and what does he see? Stan attacks his lawyer’s brother? With his other lawyer, your father, in the mix? You know the Shah’s gonna start asking questions about the Devlins and a lot else. He’s gonna want to know what’s up.’

I realized I’d given my father and brother some credit for getting Stan off me, but now I saw it in a different light. They weren’t worried about me, they were worried about the acquisition.”

Mike, an employee at Runstan, has known the Devlins since TJ was a child and offers a knowledgeable outside perspective on both Runstan and the Devlins. As with many of the side characters in the novel, Mike gives TJ a new way to understand and interpret his family members’ actions. Because TJ idolizes both his father and John, understanding their actions as self-interested and not protective of him is something that he develops over the course of the novel, and people like Mike offer TJ moments of revelation like these that eventually help him to see John and Paul more clearly.

“‘But, Mom, couldn’t you have said, “There’s no way my son had any involvement”? Couldn’t you have stood up for me?’

‘Honey, I never volunteer information, ever. It goes against every cell in my body.’ My mother’s voice took on an authoritative tone. ‘All it does is provoke another question. I’m sure your father had the same instinct.’

I realized that they had gone into lawyer mode, not parent mode.”

Throughout the novel, the Devlins conflate Family and Business, blending their personal and professional lives in ways that harm them. Here, the novel illustrates how this boundary blurring affects TJ on a very personal level. Because the defense of their son happened in a typically professional context, with the police, Paul and Marie slipped into “lawyer mode,” instead of defending their son as parents. This is a small example of this situation, but the ramifications play out in larger ways as well, including their impulse to cover up John’s crimes and save him from accountability as his defense lawyers might, rather than dealing with his gambling addiction.

“She wanted me back sober, and I wanted to be with her sober. Maybe I’d gotten sober for her, like she was my reward for giving up drinking. But in the end, it hadn’t worked. She didn’t want me either way, drinking or sober. We’d never be together. She was marrying someone else. I couldn’t even hope for her anymore. It was over.”

Although Carrie’s ultimate rejection of him is a painful moment for TJ, it also offers closure. Carrie represents everything that TJ thinks he destroyed and now doesn’t deserve, and as he notes, she has been a motivator for his recovery. With this definitive end, as Carrie tells him she’s getting married, TJ is able to recenter his recovery on himself and the future, rather than trying to recapture the past.

“I had an epiphany, eyeing myself. I hadn’t taken care of Mango because when I drank, I wasn’t taking care of myself. It was time to change, this time forever and for good. I left the bathroom to find out whether my cat lived or died.”

TJ has relapsed and missed Mango’s insulin shot, which drives home to him how much the relapse impacts his life. TJ adopted Mango despite feeling that he wasn’t capable or deserving of the responsibility, and he was just beginning to feel like he was rebuilding his life when this happened. Scottoline’s use of Mango drives home just how painful a relapse can be, but TJ’s attitude shows signs of hope. Rather than spiraling further downward, the incident causes TJ to recommit to his recovery, more determined than before.

“John’s been a bastard in the divorce, too. He drained our accounts. He shut down our credit cards. He used every financial lever he has against me. He won’t even pay for Connor’s support.”

When TJ goes to visit John’s wife, Nancy, the truth about the Devlins finally begins to emerge. The truths that Nancy offers about John shock TJ, who, despite everything, still holds on to his idealization of his brother. The revelation that he is even refusing to support his child shows the depths to which John has sunk, foreshadowing the serious trouble that he is in.

“‘You’re not a family, you’re a force.’

‘Not anymore.’ Part of this tore me apart, and the other part made me feel strangely free. ‘All along I’ve been thinking I have to change, and I do, for good. But really, we all have to change. My family has to change.’”

The shift in TJ’s understanding of himself and his family is on display in this exchange with Nancy. TJ finally understands that some of his problems and behavior are rooted in the family culture, which prioritizes appearances over accountability and responsibility. He moves beyond the realization that he needs to change to the realization that the family needs to change, and it is this revelation that will shape his new strategy to get to the heart of John’s crimes and take charge of the family firm.

“I think John is mixed up with something, with some bad actors like you say, Dad. If that’s true, then he’s in trouble and he needs our help. The other theory is a darker one, that he’s up to no good. We have to know either way, and the answers have to be in this office, with us.”

Even after everything John has put TJ through, TJ’s first instinct is to help him, showing his characteristic sensitivity and empathy. In this quote, TJ also shows how he is going to find the truth and get some answers, no matter how painful, leading his family by example.

“‘A million bucks? John, it’s out of control. That’s a gambling addiction.’

‘I’m not an addict.’

‘Yes you are. You’re pissing away a fortune.’

‘I have it in control.’

‘No, you don’t.’ I put it together. ‘Dude, you’re stealing to support your habit. You’re running a kickback scheme with our clients.’”

As John reveals the reasons for his actions, TJ recognizes the signs of addiction from his own experience. He likewise recognizes John’s excuses for what they are—denial. This fresh understanding of John’s actions will allow TJ to both empathize with John and hold him accountable, forcing him to face the truth about himself.

“You’d cover it up, that’s what you’d do. You pay people off and you hire lawyers and you think you make it better, but you just make it smooth. You don’t make it right. Smooth isn’t right. […] My whole life, I’ve watched you bail out TJ and now John. It’s not TJ’s or John’s pattern, it’s yours. The more you let it go, the higher the stakes. Now it cost us the firm. I mean this has to end somewhere. You guys keep looking the other way. Where does it end?”

In the final chapters of the novel, Gabby becomes a more prominent character as she admits that she is the one who called the FBI about John’s activities. Throughout the story, she has steadily pursued justice for her clients despite the way her family dismisses her pro bono work, and here she reveals that she has been pursuing justice for the family as well. She is the one who finally confronts Paul and Marie about their culpability in TJ and John’s troubles, holding them accountable and forcing the family to reshape themselves in the aftermath.

“You’re the one who wanted to plead guilty, and I watched you in that courtroom. I could see you felt terrible. You thought it was your worst day, but I thought it was your best.”

As she confronts her parents, Gabby also commends TJ for holding himself accountable at his trial, even as Paul, Marie, and John encouraged him to plead not guilty. She understood TJ’s actions as his way of accepting responsibility. Her statement here causes TJ to shift his perspective once again on his past and, in the process, reconsider his very character and identity.

“‘You passed me…the ball. You made the…mother of all assists. It was…a total MVP move.’

MVP, me? My heart eased, and I felt tears in my eyes. ‘I love you, Dad.’”

Although TJ and Paul will always be very different men, here they reconnect as father and son in the aftermath of the shooting. Paul finally gives TJ the approval that he has sought throughout his life. Paul’s MVP reference echoes TJ’s memory at the beginning of the novel, when although he was the best player on the team, Paul withheld MVP status from him, instead offering it to John.

“‘They can slow us down, but they can’t stop us.’

‘That’s right,’ I told him, then my throat caught. I realized that he was saying something profound, something more than what was happening in this courtroom or this lawsuit. Something that had been happening in this country and every country from the beginning of time. Some men would struggle to be considered equal, and other men would try to keep them down.”

TJ’s work with Gabby’s clients is an eye-opening experience for him. At first, it is merely shocking to hear the details of the civil rights violations the men experienced, but TJ quickly finds much to admire about them on a personal level. One thing that consistently surprises him is how these men, who were treated so unjustly, could find hopeful and positive perspectives on their experiences.