trisher
Of the two characters, Laura and Cherry I think Cherry actually came across as the more likeable. Yes she was a fortune hunter and hunting a man to look after her, but she was aware of this and she intended to make a bargain and stick to it. I thought Laura had very similar motivation but seemed unaware that she was in a similar situation, married to a man who didn't love her, fully conscious of this but wanting the lifestyle his money bought her. I wondered if the writer had met women who were like this.
This is a really interesting observation. I think that Laura could probably support herself if she decided to leave and I’m not sure she’s that set on clinging to the lifestyle Howard’s salary gives her but she’s lost and lonely and it’s a fear of stepping into the unknown, of rocking her already shaky boat still further that probably stops her from leaving. There are other
elements of hypocrisy in the book that I find interesting – Cherry for example feeling as if Laura is being snobby towards her and keeping her away because she’s not ‘one of them’ (which isn’t actually true) and yet Cherry is perhaps the biggest snob as she cannot bear to follow a life similar to her mother’s – but she doesn’t appear to be aware of her own hypocrisy. I can’t say I’ve met anyone who’s stayed in an unhappy marriage in order to
maintain a certain lifestyle!