Sarah’s answer to “The endings of parts 2 and 3 struck me as over-the-top/ ham-fisted and unsatisfying but I probably …” > Likes and Comments
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Yes, I agree with this assessment as well, that Mr. Kingsley/Martin/Lord are the same person. That perhaps Sarah disguised this character as gay as version of her own denial. Sarah does not want to admit to herself that Kingsley is her rapist so she creates the Liam character as a stand in. Karen uses David's distaste over Martin's accusers as a stand in for why she never sought justice for the abuse and pregnancy she experienced through Kingsley. In Claire's narrative, we see Robert Lord as the rapist that he truly is.
Lord could have abused boys and girls. Whether he is gay or not doesn't come into it, especially if his predatory predilections are about power.
I agree that Kingsley and Lord are the same person, but it really confuses me to think that person is also Martin. Martin ends up living at Karen's house when he's kicked out of Kingsley's. Martin acts in a play where Kingsley is in the audience. In the third section that would mean Lord is sexually assaulting his own daughter (knowingly?). That doesn't add up.
I think Kingsley/Lord isn't the same as Martin. Karen seems neutral towards Mr. Kingsley when she meets him again when she's an adult and he's David's benefactor. He doesn't recognize her but she doesn't seem to resent him the way she resents Martin. Also, she is angry at Sarah for splitting her into the characters of Pammie, Julietta, and Joelle and questions the real character of Manuel, so it's odd for her to go along with one more of Sarah's lies if Martin is indeed a version of Lord.
I ran with this too for a bit, but ultimately the London trip simply does not make sense if Martin (and Liam, by extension) aren't "real" people and are simply character extensions of Robert Lord. I have talked to readers who think none of the English characters were reall at all, but that breaks down for me a bit given the London trip.
I thought the school receptionist Velva who recognized Claire was Karen's mom ("Elli" in the first part). She recognized Claire as Karen's daughter, not as Robert Lord's daughter...
Oh my gosh. So if Robert Lord/Martin/Kingsley were essentially the same person, then Lord was trying to rape his own daughter?!
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Jen
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Jul 08, 2019 10:11AM
Yes, I agree with this assessment as well, that Mr. Kingsley/Martin/Lord are the same person. That perhaps Sarah disguised this character as gay as version of her own denial. Sarah does not want to admit to herself that Kingsley is her rapist so she creates the Liam character as a stand in. Karen uses David's distaste over Martin's accusers as a stand in for why she never sought justice for the abuse and pregnancy she experienced through Kingsley. In Claire's narrative, we see Robert Lord as the rapist that he truly is.
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Lord could have abused boys and girls. Whether he is gay or not doesn't come into it, especially if his predatory predilections are about power.
I agree that Kingsley and Lord are the same person, but it really confuses me to think that person is also Martin. Martin ends up living at Karen's house when he's kicked out of Kingsley's. Martin acts in a play where Kingsley is in the audience. In the third section that would mean Lord is sexually assaulting his own daughter (knowingly?). That doesn't add up.
I think Kingsley/Lord isn't the same as Martin. Karen seems neutral towards Mr. Kingsley when she meets him again when she's an adult and he's David's benefactor. He doesn't recognize her but she doesn't seem to resent him the way she resents Martin. Also, she is angry at Sarah for splitting her into the characters of Pammie, Julietta, and Joelle and questions the real character of Manuel, so it's odd for her to go along with one more of Sarah's lies if Martin is indeed a version of Lord.
I ran with this too for a bit, but ultimately the London trip simply does not make sense if Martin (and Liam, by extension) aren't "real" people and are simply character extensions of Robert Lord. I have talked to readers who think none of the English characters were reall at all, but that breaks down for me a bit given the London trip.
I thought the school receptionist Velva who recognized Claire was Karen's mom ("Elli" in the first part). She recognized Claire as Karen's daughter, not as Robert Lord's daughter...
Oh my gosh. So if Robert Lord/Martin/Kingsley were essentially the same person, then Lord was trying to rape his own daughter?!
