Which characters and/or actions surprised you?

What aspects of the plot or which of the characters' actions surprised you?

Maude's desire for revenge surprised me. I thought that she would be sad about her employers evil attempt to murder her but I didn't expect her to be angry and seek revenge. I was also surprised that Slyvie was the one that planned and thought of the idea of murdering Maude.

I, too, was surprised that Maude would attempt such revenge, but after the cruel act imposed on her it changed her personality. During her recovery she had time to plot out her revenge. Being a "ghost" was probably the best way to seek revenge to Morel's cowardice.

I agree with both karenrn and jackies, but I was also a bit surprised by Yvette's devotion to Maud and her willingness to stick with her during her planned revenge. Nothing in her background suggested she would show that degree of loyalty.

I think Maude's intense desire to seek revenge caught me most off guard, but it begs the question for the potential for that in all of us, really. Once, I settled into the reality of it I could follow the though thread back and understand the motive a bit better.

I was definitely surprised that Silvie killed herself. She seemed too self-centered to have committed suicide because her husband died. It seems odd to me that she could be so wrapped up in her husband and yet set Maud up so completely. I think it would have been more in character for her to flee to America on her own.

It didn't seem in Sylvie's character that she would shoot herself in that way.

An excellent point, Kimk!

I was truly surprised to find out the true relationship between Christian and Sylvie. Later in the book I was so surprised when Sylvie committed suicide.

I found it interesting that Tanya befriended Maude and Yvette

Despite knowing what the basic plot was, I was absolutely floored when Maud was "drowned." The way it was written I was just sure she had died, and when I turned the page and saw it was narrated by Yvette I was sure of it. I somehow thought Yvette would be narrating the rest of the book. So that was my first surprise.

I also agree that I didn't think Sylvie would have killed herself. She strikes me as a real survivor.

I agree about Sylvie killing herself. That shocked me too. I thought she would have run off and started over again with another criminal. I also wondered why Yvette was so good to Maud in part two of the book. It seemed out of character for her.

Both Maud and Sylvie are portrayed initially as such weak and dependent souls only to be revealed as quite determined, strong women capable of extreme and extremely cruel behavior. That very strong dichotomy of personality was jolting. I also found the depth of friendship among such different women very surprising. Mostly Tonya's relationship with Yvette, basically a street urchin, and Maud, a woman with no real background information at all.

I agree it was not in character for Sylvie to kill herself. I feel the friendship between Maud, Tanya and Yvette was believable (Maud was barely getting enough money to feed herself, so they bonded) but I think Maud was presented as being very vindictive and that was hard to believe.

I had a hard time believing the character, Tatiana. She was "the spirit of Paris"making many entrances in clouds of fir and fragrance. Why did she want to help Maud so much? At first, I thought she had something going with the Morels. Maybe she just did not have much to do! She became more believable later on.
I was surprised at Sylvie's suicide. She was the strongest of the brother sister team and seemed to have the treachery under control.

i agree that Sylvie's suicide was surprising. I literally gasped when Maud was thrown in the river and couldn't wait to see what would happen next. I didn't find Maud's desire for revenge unbelievable. There are many people like that and she really didn't have any close ties with anyone earlier in the book so that become her reason for living at the beginning and then I think it became an obsession.

I actually was very surprised by the Countess's actions at the end. She didn't seem to really care about anybody but herself and her wealth. Her actions tied up the story nicely; however, I found them not very contrived to wrap up the story.

I was surprised at the change in Maud after she became involved with Christian and Sylvie. She seemed to accept everything they did. I, too felt that Sylvie's suicide was out of character. She was written up to that point as one tough cookie.

I was surprised by Vera, changing her tune to support Tanya in her marriage to Paul. I thought it was very sweet and not contrived. I was happy for Tanya to have the support of her aunts, and thought she was smart in her approach to butter Vera up, which is probably in large part why Vera responded positively (though semi-begrudginly).

Well the true joy of the book was the surprising twists and the unexpected actions of all the characters were what made the story so enjoyable. I agree with all the comments made so far in that yes, Maud did seem to change most dramatically from the easily malleable English waif to the terrifyingly destructive madwoman she became while trying to enact her revenge on Christian. Yes, also a surprise with the turn of events with Yvette's help and Tanya's aunts becoming supportive and quite surprising that Sylvie would become so overwrought to commit suicide. I was not surprised that she was the planner behind Maud's attempted murder. She was probably more clever than her husband and used him to her advantage. Once she realized there would be no more chance to steal and gain she must have realized that she had no life.

I was a little confused when Charlotte showed up to help Maud. That seemed to just come out of the blue. I was also surprised at Vera helping Tanya. Perhaps the author didn't say enough about these characters earlier in the novel to make those actions fit in.