Is the ending too contrived?

[Ahmad]

I know all endings are contrived but is this one more contrived than most?

[Susan]

I struggled a bit with it, tbh. The characters all seemed to sway wildly from one extreme to the other, particularly Bernard. It didn't dramatically hang together. And I saw no good reason why Gilbert and Hortense should have honoured Queenie's request. She was asking a lot, frankly. It was the one reason why I gave it 4 rather than 5 stars as the rest of the novel was so powerful.