Bailey answers “do you think mark was really leaving...”

Barb asked this question about White Oleander:

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?

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 li…moreI 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.(less)

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