Marian and Caroline

[Lauren]

Of the two stories, was there one that you preferred or found the stronger of the two? Did you relate better to one of the characters?

[Ashley]

I actually switched allegiances midway. During the first half, I thought Marian's story was stronger and more nuanced, compared with Caroline, who just seemed whiny and immature with this affected air of "I used to be an artist, but my rich husband stole my soul. Woe!"

Also in the first half, I was sort of a cranky reader. I found myself supremely irritated at the sheer AMOUNT OF TIME these women had to be melancholy and pensive. I kind of wondered if they were just bored--a luxury, I think.

In the second half, Marian's story got so jumpy with points in time, and Caroline's suddenly got more interesting as she finally started taking control of her life.

As far as relating better to the characters, I suppose I'd pick Caroline. I sort of understand the feeling that your actual talents are wasting away, because you have other responsibilities to attend to. Of course, in her case, she filled her days appeasing her turd-like husband, and mine are filled with a job and two small children. This is likely a huge part of why she annoyed the heck out of me during the first half of the book. I mean, LEAVE HIM ALREADY! What did she have to lose, besides money? She could always EARN that, and it's not like she had kids to support. That part just didn't add up to me.

[Lauren]

I think the time thing came down to the fact they were both on vacation at the start. But that might just be me.

Oddly enough, I sympathized with Caroline from the start. Part of it was because she was such a baby when she met Malcolm, and he used that to his advantage to mold her into what he wanted. At 23, don't we all think we're adults when we really don't know anything about ourself or the world around us? I normally don't go for entitled, spoiled characters, but there was something about Caroline that struck me as sympathetic and relatable from the start.

And not having money is a scary thing, especially when, in Caroline's case, she's never had a real job and has no experience. More than that, Malcolm sounds like a powerful guy who dislikes losing: what else might he do, other than hide assets, to destroy Caroline if she left him?

For all I normally don't go for bed-hopping characters, I saw the logic of Caroline going directly from Malcolm to Gilbert (even if it wasn't explicitly stated in the book): Gilbert could potentially protect her from some of the worst of Malcolm's impulses and, as an attorney, might have even been able to blackmail Malcolm into silence.

I agree about Marian's story: really engaging at the start, but it dragged for me towards the end. I could have done with less whining about Johnnie. If I ever meet Ms. Weisgall, I would love to ask her how she would have ended Marian's tale if not for the real-world events she had to fold into the story. My own read on the ending was that, hamstrung by what did happen, Ms. Weisgall struggled with what to do in the lead up to Marian's death.