Hester Argyll

Who is Hester and how does she fit into the story?

Hester is the youngest of the adopted children, she was adopted third. She is 18 in present day though we first meet her in flashback in 1953 when she was 15 or thereabouts. She is the baby of the family and she’s treated that way even though that’s not necessarily how she feels. Hester has the perfect Miss 50’s look with the wide skirts and an equally wide-eyed innocence but she has two personas. She has the family persona where she plays the princess and she has her real character, which is how she behaves with her siblings where she acts much older.

What is her relationship like with Rachel?

Hester and Rachel’s relationship is difficult. It isn’t your normal mother/daughter relationship. The tragedy with Rachel is that she always desperately wanted her own children and she can’t have them, so she adopts thinking it will make her happy but it doesn’t. She never offers them any affection, any kind words or encouragement, nothing. I think a lot of their relationship is based on what Hester looks like and Rachel is always selecting her clothes and making sure Hester always looks perfect which is why Hester develops an obsession with her appearance, maintaining this expectation even after Rachel is murdered. Rachel is almost like a pushy stage mum, putting pressure on Hester to always get her piano recitals perfect through hours and hours of practice. I do however think she loves her mother, they all do in some way, but it’s a weird kind of love when you love someone who doesn’t give you anything back.

How does she interact with her adopted father and what is the essence of their relationship?

Leo loves all his children and they adore him. Hester especially will always love her father and always want his approval but in the end there will be that distance between them. It breaks her heart knowing that he can’t look at her the way he used to.

What is the dynamic between Hester and Philip, her brother in law?

Hester and Philip have a weird relationship and it took me a while to figure it out. What I was struggling with was that Hester has an ‘on-face’ and an ‘off-face’ and she puts the “on-face” with her mother and father and with Philip as well to a degree. But Philip is so perceptive, he knows she puts on an act. It’s something they don’t speak about but it’s obvious he has the measure of her. Does she know about his attraction to her? Is he really attracted to her? I don’t know. He probably does but equally it may be to spite Mary. There are so many twisted feelings amongst them all that right and wrong become confused in some regards.