The Narrator

The narrator is the daughter of Mrs S and, it is implied, the only member of her family to survive the War. She is sensitive, observant and reflective — she notices small things quickly (missing objects, a burn mark, the gold border on a teapot lid) and reads people and situations acutely. During the War she was quietly sceptical of Mrs Dorling's motives, though she did not press her trusting mother. After the War she is at first afraid to face the stored belongings, showing how deeply the trauma affects her. Her greatest strength is her emotional maturity and resilience: when she finally sees her mother's things in Mrs Dorling's oppressive room, she recognises that clinging to them would only bind her to a dead past. She chooses i …