How do the three women approach the big decisions they face in this novel? Is there an element of randomness inherent in decision-making?

Is the "Easy Plan" that Eve, Sally, and Anastasia come up with actually easy? Do you think there are ways in which it is both easy and difficult for each of them? How do the three women approach the big decisions they face in this novel? Is there an element of randomness inherent in decision-making?

I feel Big decisions require wider perspective to allow new possibilities to enter. At the start, no one was looking for an answer, just a chance to think their own thoughts in peace. How else can one arrive at an open mind? Constant work and tending to others leaves no place to consider alternatives.
As time on the water soothed the soul they all blossomed and the new possibilities entered in a way that feel not random but organically unfolding. New opportunities were revealed in light of a reshaped reality. Times change and people see things differently.

At its core the Easy Plan is easy--Anastasia gets her treatment and Sally and Eve get the Number One to the boatyard. Are there some snags along the way? Yes, but they are really not very difficult to overcome. What is somewhat difficult is deciding what comes after? Does Sally go back, does Eve go back, is Anastasia able to go back. Those things took a greater effort to decide, but the ease of the basic plan gave them all space to breathe and think without pressure. That is what is needed but not always available when one wants to make truly BIG life-changing decisions

I feel like all 3 knew they couldn't stay in the situations they were in: the boogy man was chasing them and their only options were to take the plunge away from where they were. Sometimes there is time to mull things over and sometimes not. And then there are times that it seems like a solution simply falls into your lap. For our 3 main characters I feel like it was a combination of all of these.

I felt like the author made the Easy Plan seem easy - and sensible. Had this been real life, I'm not sure it would have been as simple as it was portrayed.

I do think there's always an element of randomness in decision-making, since no one can truly know the impact of their choice down the road.

Over the course of summer, the three women collectively and individually are forced to slow down, take a look at their own lives, and make decisions for their futures. The Narrowboat Summer is about second chances, unlikely friendships and not being afraid to start over in life.