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1. Describe the setting for the opening of the novel.

The novel opens at a hotel on the shore of the French Riviera about halfway between Marseilles and the Italian border. The hotel is called Gausse's Hotel des Estrangers, a large, rose-colored building with palm trees in front and a lovely beach nearby.

2. What can be determined about Rosemary's personality from her demeanor at the beach?

Rosemary wants to maintain a distance from the other hotel guests and wishes her mother would rescue her when some of them cluster around her. She has decided that she does not like the people at this hotel, particularly when comparing them to the other people who interested her on the other side of the beach. Rosemary feigns sleep to avoid contact with them.

3. Explain Mrs. Elsie Speers' devotion to her daughter, Rosemary.

Mrs. Speers was Rosemary's best friend and had put every effort into guiding her. Mrs. Speers had been widowed twice but holds no bitterness about life, only investing all her time in her daughter.

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