I didn’t want to do the trope of Poor Heroine with Terrible Parents. Margaret is hard to deal with but she and Carrie are similar in terms of determination and willpower, and I hoped to create a sense of a strained but ultimately affectionate/loving relationship.
Carrie is pretty ordinary with a fairly common family backstory and is based on my own, and several friends/acquaintances. I wanted her to be recognisable, if not relatable.
