Nora Webster

Nora Webster is the title character and the protagonist of the novel. The narrative begins in the months after the death of her husband and follows Nora as she navigates her immense sense of loss. The author depicts Nora as being trapped in a prison of grief, particularly as this is not the first time that she has dealt with the death of a loved one. Throughout the novel, Nora’s reveries delve into her painful life experiences. She recounts the deaths of her parents and her husband; Nora was present for each death, and, in the aftermath, she was expected to shoulder the responsibility for her family. Over the course of her life, whether caring for her sisters or her children, Nora has always chosen to suffer in silence. Now, she bears the burden of her grief but actively rejects social niceties and religion as hollow gestures that do not truly help. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that Nora understands grief but does not know how to recover from it. As a result, the death of Maurice is particularly debilitating for her, and her pain only intensifies over time. Nora Webster is a novel about a woman relearning how to live her life in the wake of a traumatic event.