Michael Odell
Laurie's deceased Irish journalist father, whose alcoholism and early death shape the family's history.
The book
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeMichael is known retrospectively as an Irish journalist and Laurie's father. His alcoholism, death from pneumonia, and absence shape Laurie's childhood history.
He should be understood as part of the family's emotional background, not romanticized as a doomed writer.
How the book draws them
- ProfessionA rumpled period suit suggests newspaper work.
- ExpressionAn intelligent but worn face suits the family memory.
- BackgroundHe is Irish and works as a journalist.
- Narrative statusHe died before the principal wartime action.
He dies of pneumonia when Laurie is young.
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