5. There's something about Mary
This week, we have Martha's inciting incident and the novel's first mystery
I thought it might be helpful to recap what has happened so far in the book:
We have met Martha, Angela and Josephine
Angela has been told her stalker, Richard Dunn, is out of prison
Josephine (still in prison) has agreed to go to Urania Cottage with her girlfriend Annie
We are already about a tenth of the way into the book. See how much set-up has to happen while intrigue is laid down at the same time? From the bullet points above, we can see that Angela and Josephine have been passed their batons.
Now it’s Martha’s turn. Because it isn’t enough for Martha to just be at the house. The stakes must be raised, otherwise, what, she just moves easily through the year’s syllabus and then emigrates? Remember: stories are about things going wrong.
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