Barb
Barb asked:

do you think mark was really leaving Claire and having an affair? Do you think postpartum played a role in Ingrid leaving Astrid for that year?

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DryHeatGarrett I think he was, yes. As for the Ingrid leaving Astrid, I don't think it was a postpartum issue. I think Ingrid was always a sociopath and abandoning her daughter was just another terrible thing she's done in a line of many.
Dani
This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)
Joey Astrid's mother is a complete sociopath and murderer. There is no reason whatsoever to believe that she has a change of heart at the end of the book. Every single piece of evidence points to the fact that she will say and do anything to anyone to get what she wants. She is a manipulative psycho who gets away with cold blooded first degree murder.
Kalin Rheanne 1. He essentially said he was, so yes.
2. Ingrid's mental illness goes beyond depression. It's actually the opposite. I don't think she is capable of true empathy, so it's more likely that she just didn't want to deal with being a mom.
Bailey I think Mark (movie name) /Ron (book name) was having an affair and he basically admits it to Astrid after Claire dies. He says something along the line of 'I wasn't perfect but I loved her,' which I took to mean that he fooled around.

As for Ingrid, I don't think it's post-partum depression. I can't put a label on it but it's a mixture of egomania and an obsession with exerting her power over everything. She's just so used to being revered for her beauty and art, people doing on her whim, that it's like she thinks of everyone else as her dolls to play with, including her own daughter. It's like she can't tell the difference between twisting her poetry and twisting real life. She can lie in those magazine interviews to those college girls who are totally in love with her and her work, and she plays - almost mercilessly - with Claire when they met and Astrid just has to watch even though she knows her mother is mocking this person she cares about.

I don't think there is a word to describe Ingrid.
Pooja Choudhury Yes, he did admit to it... though indirectly. But yes, he was definitely not loyal to Claire.
Stephen Miletus Ingrid reminds me of how many successful & famous authors are: incredibly egocentric, & exploitative of everyone around them in order to have the time to create. Look at Joyce sending his children to raid the cash register at Shakespeare & Co.; look at Cormac McCarthy insisting his wife get a second job to support the family so he can write. (I could also probably find numerous examples amongst artists & musicians.)

Being the child of a famous poet, writer, artist, etc. is probably the worst fate a kid could be born to.
Renee Without a doubt yes i think he was going to leave Claire. Claire did not have any back bone or strength in his opinion. I also believed Ingrid could not show compassion because she never had compassion herself. She could not put herself aside to take care of her child. I guess the severe mental illness took a great major part.
Ann Burger I think he was because remember Astrid heard him flirting with a woman on the phone talking about Cod? Plus I think if he really loved his wife he couldn't leave her for weeks at a time.
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by Janet Fitch (Goodreads Author)
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