Madeline

At the start of the story, Madeline has just turned 40, something that upsets her because she feels like she is getting old. Madeline is someone who cares a lot about her appearance. This applies to the way she physically looks as well as the way that other people view her. Madeline has a very extreme personality. She notes later on in the book that she purposefully plays this up because she knows that her friends and family enjoy her intense behavior. Madeline is very protective of her friends and family, which is how she starts the feud with Renata. Despite being very open and chatty about her life, she tries to hide her negative emotions from people who have heard her. This is especially true with Nathan, Abigail, and Bonnie.

Ed

Ed is Madeline’s second husband and father of her two youngest children. Although he’s only...