After getting to Trespassen, Hal sees a picture of her mother and three other people. She realizes that her mother was a distant cousin to the Westaway's and shared the same name as the Westaway daughter, Margarida. But they went by different nicknames, Maggie and Maude.
My guess early on was that Hal's father was one of the Westaway's sons and I was correct. Ezra was her father. Mrs. Westaway knew this and the will was valid. But what was a surprise to Hal was that the woman who raised her as her own daughter was really the Westaway heir who raised her after Hal's mother was killed. And then she died after being hit by a car. Both women were killed by Ezra.
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ReplyDeleteWell I re-read the last 10 chapters again and I answered my own question but I'm still confused in the fact that Hal asked Abel who the 2nd girl in the photo was and He told her that was their cousin but she told the reader that girl was her mother. Shouldn't Abel have said "what? that's my sister, your mother" if she pointed out the woman who raised her, being the sister of Abel?
ReplyDeleteHal phrases it as just "who is the other girl in the picture?" She lists "my mother" as one, but no pointing is done. Abel just assumes that she's referring to Maude as her mother and says the other girl is Maggie.
DeleteI agree, I was very confused as well.
ReplyDeleteI was constantly trying to keep the two “Mauds” straight. Between the diary and the attic and that there were no other men but family All I could conclude was that Hal was the product of an incestuous relationship
ReplyDeleteYup...me, too. There's no actual point in the book where I realized they were BOTH named Margarida. Until I read the spoilers. But with all the internalizing by Hal at the end,it STILL didn't add up
DeleteI thought the same thing
DeleteMargarida (Maggie)-Hal's birth mother. Blue eyed. Killed before Hal would've learned to recognize her. Has had the baby with her cousin Ezra.
DeleteMargarida (Maud)- Woman who raised Hal, whom Hal knows as her own mom. Dark eyes like her twin Ezra. Later dies in a car crash when Hal is 18. Is never married.
Here's my question no one has answered. I understand that no one pointed to either of the girls in the photo. But why did Hal think her mother who raised her had dark eyes when Maude had blue eyes and Maude raised her??Did I miss something? I loved the book but this one glaring question is ruining it for me. I can't make sense of it.
ReplyDeleteOkay - there you go - that's where I got tripped up as well.
DeleteBecause Maud didn't have blue eyes. Maggie did. Maggie is Hal's birth mom, and Maud had raised her. We know this but she doesn't. Hal thought the dark-eyed girl in the picture was Maggie because-of course-she's the only "mom" Hal had ever known. Since Hal herself has dark eyes, she thinks she inherited them from her mom-whom she still thinks as Maggie, but who is actually Maud. Later, Hal sees the twins' photos when she sneaks into the library. That's when she realizes that Maud has dark eyes. So Maggie must've had blue eyes. When blue met dark...
Delete(I tried explaining it the best I could.)
Maggie had blue eyes and maude who was ezra twin had dark eyes hence hal thinking her 'mother' had dark eyes
DeleteMaude didn’t have blue eyes, she has dark eyes, like Ezra. Maggie had blue eyes. But what doesn’t make any sense about the photo is that Hal says her mother was the only one looking at the camera, at the person taking the photo. That her dark eyes were just like hers. So apparently that means Maude was the only one looking at the camera and Maggie (with the blonde hair and blue eyes) was laughing or whatever which would be fine if we didn’t read Maggie’s diary about how she stared at the person taking the photo. Ugh this photo thing is so annoying. Also, Ezra was in the picture...soooo did he have a timer? I guess that’s possible? This just annoyed and confused me.
ReplyDeleteI thought I read that when she looked back at the diary entries, that after a while the writing had changed - like when Maggie died, Maude started to write.. But i'm not sure!
DeleteYes, Hal has the epiphany that Ezra had timed the picture and then ran back to be in the photo.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I was also confused about the info regarding the photo via Hal's view and and through the eyes of Maggie a.k.a the diary. All of your comments are extremely helpful!!!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED this book and have been wanting to talk to someone about it! I loved Ezra’s character! Am I weird? Lol! I know he ended up being awful, but for some reason I really enjoyed him and was disappointed that he ended up being the bad guy. I was surprised and also not surprised that it was him. My theories kept changing throughout the book as to who her father was and what happened to Maud. Overall I thought it was an excellent book but I wonder if I’m alone in my love for Ezra lol
ReplyDeleteAny idea why Hal inherited everything and the uncles got nothing?
ReplyDeleteso... hal's bio parents were her mom and mom's cousin?????
ReplyDeletethis book was confusing as %$#@! thanks for the spoilers. The two women connection to the kid confused me. I know understand who was bio mom. Ezra's motive for all this killing still confuses me. and then the dropped plot points... Mrs. Warren sneaking about. who tried to kill Hal with the string across the stairs BEFORE he knew she figured it out. the loan sharks wanting their money back was a big plot point. Why was the attorney staring at Hal during that last scene with her,like he knew something he wanted to say?
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