52 pages • 1 hour read
The Briar Club
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Character Analysis
Grace March/Galina Stepanova
Content Warning: This section of the guide features depictions of domestic violence, psychological abuse, anti-gay bias, suicide, and murder.
Grace is a tall woman in her mid-thirties with golden brown hair and eyes of the same color. She enjoys observing people, which is one of the reasons that the attic room with a view of Briarwood House appeals to her. Although Grace is central to the plot and functions as a protagonist, she doesn’t emerge from the background until the final chapters of The Briar Club. For the most part, she spends her time observing the other tenants and getting to know them. Her friendly, nonjudgmental attitude encourages many of them to open up to her. In turn, Grace offers advice or a nudge in the right direction when she feels one of her housemates is going off-track. In this way, she serves as a mentor archetype in the novel. She is also the character who suggests Thursday night communal dinners in her flat and brings together a diverse group of people who hardly ever talk to one another otherwise. This demonstrates how her character is a connector.
