Jenny Baldry
Chris's cousin and first-person narrator, whose judgments change as the crisis unfolds.
To bring Chris home and make him whole, then to understand what wholeness actually requires.
The book
At a glance
- Chris Baldry's cousin
- Baldry Court
- First-person narrator
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeJenny is Chris's cousin and narrates the novel from Baldry Court. She and Kitty have maintained the estate as a refuge while he is away.
At first she shares Kitty's class contempt for Margaret and turns clothes and manners into moral evidence.
Watching Margaret understand Chris changes Jenny's language and values. The reader sees both Chris's recovery and Jenny learning to see the present more honestly.
How the book draws them
- Involved observerShe is inside every household decision but not neutral.
- Class-trained gazeShe notices clothes and manners before character.
- Keeper of Baldry CourtThe beautiful home expresses what she thinks Chris should need.
- Protective cousinHer devotion is real even when her assumptions are limited.
- Revising witnessShe changes as Margaret's worth becomes undeniable.
- Final interpreterShe understands the cost hidden in Kitty's word cured.
Jenny briefly agrees that Chris should remain happy, then accepts that permanent delusion would deny his adult dignity. She understands the cure as another loss.
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