The Death of Mrs. Westaway

When Hal first meets Ezra, he seems cool and detached, while his frequent jokes and jibes aimed at his brothers show that he is witty, laconic, and uninterested in dull paperwork or bureaucracy. These jokes are often barbed, showing Ezra’s willingness to bicker with the only other men who endured the abuse of Hester Westaway. Rather than giving the brothers solidarity, their mother’s abuse drives them apart. Ezra is alienated in an intellectual, physical, and moral sense. Not only does he consider himself separate from his brothers, but he physically separates himself by choosing to live in the south of France. Meanwhile, he is capable of crimes that they would not imagine. Ezra’s aloof exterior hides a deep anguish that manifests as incivility and violence.

Ezra speaks often about love, but his words are hollow. He claims to have been in love with Maggie but refused to take care of their child and then killed her when she asked for help. He claims to have loved his twin sister Maud, but he killed her when she threatened to tell Hal the truth about the past. Similarly, Ezra is the only one of the children whom Mrs. Warren likes, but he has no compunction about killing her as well. Ezra’s actions contradict his claims of love, suggesting his utterly amorality, particularly as blames everyone but himself for his crimes. Ezra’s death is the culmination of this refusal to take responsibility. When Hal learns the truth, Ezra decides that he must kill her, but when he pursues her across a frozen lake, he falls in the water and dies. Just as he does not understand his bodyweight will crack the ice, he does not understand the weight of his actions—and he literally and symbolically drowns in the consequences of those actions, in the lake holding his victim’s body.

Abel is the kindest of the three Westaway brothers. As a child and a young man, he was emotionally abused by his mother due to his sexual orientation. This abusive treatment fostered an unbreakable empathy in Abel, who, as an adult, works for a charity to protect children from similar abuse. Moreover, his treatment of Hal shows his keenness to make her feel welcome, despite hardly knowing her. Abel cannot help but see the best in everyone, to show the world that he has worth even though he was told otherwise as a child. However, while the consequence of this deep empathy is partly that he becomes a healer and protector for others, he also makes himself vulnerable to more suffering: Abel even tried to reconcile his relationship with Hester before she died, but his efforts were fruitless.

Of the three Westaway brothers, Harding seems like the best adjusted. He has a wife, three kids, and all the trappings of success. He is so rich that Hal envies his lifestyle when she researches him on the internet. However, Harding’s impressive success is tempered by his unfulfilling motivation: After an emotionally abusive childhood, there is the sense that everything Harding does is an attempt to win Hester’s affection—an affection that was never forthcoming when she was alive. Harding spent his entire life carefully cultivating the distinctions that might impress his mother, only for her to leave Trepassen House to an unknown and distant member of the family. Harding reacts badly to the will not just because he stands to lose out financially, but because he views it as his mother’s one final rebuke.

However, Harding recovers from his anger to become one of the Westaways most sympathetic toward Hal. Though he is still prone to awkward or aggressive comments, he can use his resources to support her. When Hal returns briefly to Brighton, Harding purchases her a train ticket so that she can return to Penzance. The gesture almost overwhelms Hal, who believes the gift demonstrates that she finally has her long-desired family. Though Harding may not mean to be quite so helpful, his behavior is an important part of integrating Hal into the Westaway family.

As the despotic matriarch, Hester Westaway’s cruelty ostracizes most of her family. Though she is largely absent from the novel, she is glimpsed in diary entries and her children’s tortured anecdotes. Hester forced her children to compete with one another for her affection, which she rarely provided to any of them other than Ezra. She tried to control her children’s emotional and physical lives, including whom they loved and where they attended school. This grave level of subjugation ensured that all the children sought to leave Trepassen House as quickly as possible, to the point where Maud needed to lie about her plans to escape. For obvious reasons, Trepassen House is not a happy place for the surviving Westaway children. Memories of their abusive mother linger in the house like a ghost.

Hester wrote to Harding before her death, suggesting that her passing would cause a deluge of revelations. By leaving the house to Ezra’s estranged daughter, Hester goes some way to force the family’s reckoning with the pain she has caused. Hester’s will sets the events of the novel in motion and allows Hal to discover the truth about her past, but Hester achieves this in an incredibly overcomplicated and duplicitous fashion. While Hester might have sought reconciliation for her abusive parenting, the use of the will to reveal the truth allows her to avoid any responsibility. She is dead, no longer able to be held accountable for her past corruption.

Maud may not be Hal’s biological parent, but Hal never lets go of the idea that Maud is her mother. After Ezra kills Maggie, Maud goes into hiding. She assumes Maggie’s identity and raises Maggie’s child as if Hal were her own daughter. The loving care that Maud provided over the course of nearly two decades compels Hal to frame motherhood experientially rather than genetically. Moreover, Maud’s legacy of Hal’s psychological formation outweighs any of Maggie’s impact; Maud and Hal share their defining pragmatism and skepticism—qualities that ultimately help Hal to survive.

Though Maud only appears fleetingly and indirectly in the book, such as in sections of Maggie’s diary, her presence is just as powerful as anyone’s. All the characters miss her, especially Hal. The extent of Hal’s grief, as well as the grief of the three Westaway brothers, shows the impact Maud had on their lives.

Maggie is the only other character (besides her daughter, Hal) whose perspective is portrayed in The Death of Mrs. Westaway. Her diary provides a glimpse into the past, illustrating her time at Trepassen House and detailing the abuse she both witnessed and endured. Maggie is beaten and imprisoned by Hester, who knows that Maggie is pregnant with Ezra’s child. Though Maggie’s diary ends just before she escapes, the entries function as an important confirmation of Hester’s abusiveness. Maggie is not one of Hester’s children, nor is she one of her friends, so her perspective is (to some degree) that of an outsider. Such an outside perspective shows the harrowing reality of growing up in the Westaway household.

Maggie’s experiences also set the tone for Hal. Like Hal, Maggie arrived at Trepassen House as a relatively naïve person, only to encounter horrors. Like Hal, Maggie was forced to confront Ezra to demand justice. Unlike Hal, however, Maggie was killed and her body thrown in the lake. Hal does not know Maggie well but learning about Maggie’s story teaches Hal independence: Hal faces down Ezra at the boathouse, using her newly found knowledge of his arrogance to defeat him. Maggie’s life may end in tragedy, but the record of her experiences ensures her daughter’s survival.

Mrs. Warren is the elderly housekeeper at Trepassen House. She has been in the job for decades, so long that she was directly involved in the upbringing of the Westaway children. Mrs. Warren’s close relationship with Hester led to some portion in the inheritance, and is indicative of the two women’s shared preferences. Both Mrs. Warren and Hester favored Ezra, at the expense of the other children. This favoritism continues into the novel’s present, as Mrs. Warren is rude to everyone except Ezra. Her bias even extends to protecting Ezra’s murderous secrets.

Mrs. Warren’s redeeming moment is when she tries to warn Hal about her father. She treats Hal badly and warns her to leave. However, her desire to protect Ezra keeps her from divulging the whole truth, and Hal dismisses Mrs. Warren as rude and ignores the advice. As a result, Mrs. Warren’s attempt at redemption is hindered. Ironically, she is killed by the man whom she protected for many years.