Jude's backstory does explain a lot - it may help to weave more of it into the main story. I hope you do continue this up to the time the story starts. It's interesting, if sad.

Livi

It does explain some stuff. Poor Jude. His parents totally screwed up.. what would you call it? The ability to connect with people. Maybe empathy. Like, he understands people really well, in an intellectual way, but the emotional stuff is way out of whack.
And they just used him to get to each other. I hate it when that happens.
hum.