Jules/Julia Abbott

Jules is the main character of the story and the first voice to begin the novel. Jules is the younger sister of Nel Abbott and the aunt to Lena. Jules was an obese child and teenager but has since shed the weight, which makes it difficult at times for people to recognize her, and she holds residual shame about her body. Since leaving Beckford for London she has even changed her name from Julia to Jules (and she insists upon this change to people who knew her otherwise). She and her sister have been estranged for years, and when Jules gets the call about her sister’s death she immediately assumes Nel is not dead but instead doing this to “spite” her or get her attention (5). Jules arrives in Beckford and meets her niece Lena and soon learns her sister is, indeed, dead when she identifies...