Elizabeth Costello

Elizabeth Costello is a successful author who is in her 60s. She is twice married and has two children. It appears that she has more of a relationship with her son than with her daughter.

Elizabeth's most famous novel is The House of Eccles Street, which was published in 1969. In it, she borrows the character Marion Bloom from James Joyce’s Ulysses. She is resentful that the focus of her literary career is a book that was written early on in her career.

She is interested in academic discourse and the exchange of ideas in the humanities. A discussion about the Church and the humanities leads to a rift between Elizabeth and her sister Blanche. Elizabeth is indecisive and struggles to commit to a clear position on what she thinks or believes.

Her relationships are distant, and she is somewhat cold. She holds a deep belief that...