In characterizing Noelle and Floyd, Jewell explains background information about their childhoods to show the reader the way upbringing contributes to one’s personality and mental state as an adult. In part, learning about Noelle and Floyd’s childhoods helps make them more understandable and realistic characters. Rather than simply labeling them as the villains of the story, the reader sees them as people with a history that shaped them into the mentally unstable adults encountered in the novel.  

First, Noelle explains her family and upbringing from a first-person perspective. Growing up in Ireland, Noelle was the middle child with two older and two younger brothers. Her only sister, Michaela, died at age eight, and Noelle describes the way her parents constantly compared her to Michaela. Her parents slept in separate bedrooms and had high expectations for her academically. She sums up her childhood saying, “Anyway, that was me. The less bonny, less clever, less dead sister with the four horrible brothers and the mum and dad who judged more than they loved” (166). Noelle never formed meaningful relationships in her life and struggled to find a job that was a good fit for her. After reading Floyd’s book and meeting him in London, she quickly became obsessed with him and with winning his attention.