Special Sub-Topic: Half Broken Things Click Here To Play: Half Broken Things

Jean is the first character we meet in the novel. Jean is a house sitter, and had received a posting to Walden Manor. What does she break on only her fourth day there?

A teapot. Jean knocks over a teapot on her the same day her employer, Shelley, decides to call her and check up on things. Out of the teapot come approximately forty keys to all the locked places in Walden Manor. Though Jean is aghast at the thought that Shelley thinks her irresponsible for breaking the antique teapot, it is the event that sets off a chain of events that will lead to her, Steph, and Michael coming together. Jean offers to mend the teapot, but Shelley objects point-blank. Some things, like an antique teapot, can never be truly mended.

Where is Michael driving to when he first meets Steph?

Bath. Michael's beat-up van needs a tow and he pulls into a garage on the way to Bath to try and get it fixed. Steph had just pulled into the station in her boyfriend Jace's car, and, on a whim, decides to ditch abusive Jace in favour of Michael. Michael refuses to take Steph, even when he sees the pleading in her eyes. Steph rises to the challenge and stows away in the back of the van as it is being towed.

Steph is very pregnant, and soon has her child. She wants to name the baby after Michael, but it is a girl. What does she decide to name the baby?

Miranda. Initially she wants to name the baby Michael-ah, however, Michael is not pleased with this choice. Even when she suggests Michaela it's too close to Michael's name to make him like it. So they pose the question to Jean and she suggests Miranda and the name is liked by all. Miranda is born a sickly child, and is all skinny and does not sleep properly either, which makes the 'family' very ragged around the edges. Miranda does not feed well either, and makes Steph's nipple so sore and infected that she has to sit in the bath for hours so that she can bear the pain.

Is Michael actually Jean's child?

n. Jean, later in the novel, reveals that she had never given birth in her life. When Steph is about to give birth Jean tries to put on airs of authority about what needs to be done, however, she actually has no clue. It is Michael that actually figures out more or less how to coach Steph through giving birth. Jean decided that since she had such a large house at Walden Manor, it would be nice to have some companionship. She places an advertisement in the magazine for her "long-lost son" to answer, and at some points truly believes that she has one. Nevertheless, both Michael and Jean know that they are not relations, though both are willing to put on airs to keep up the charade.

Who is Gordon Brookes?

A reverend from whom Michael stole. Michael was a petty thief, and stole church paraphernalia to resell to Mr. David. Michael's last heist before the turn of events that changed his life was from Rev. Brookes' church. However, unbeknownst to Steph, he is also Charlie's grandfather. When he suddenly comes over for a visit to see his grandson for the first time, Steph accepts a lift from him back to Walden Manor. Upon reaching the manor, he recognizes Michael, and Michael realizes that the idyll at Walden Manor is about to get shattered. Michael tells Steph to take Charlie inside and to keep doing what they had planned to be doing and then murders Gordon Brookes.

Steph's baby born at Walden Manor is her first child.

f. Steph had already gotten pregnant once before when she was fifteen. Because of her young age, Steph was forced to give up her first child for adoption. Since this had been traumatic and distasteful for her, she did not want to give up the child she was bearing now. In fact, she was so terrified that she would be forced to give it up that she refused to even go to a hospital to have it born for fear that it might be taken away from her.

How does Michael murder Mr. Brookes?

Drowns him in the pool. After Reverend Brookes recognizes Michael, Michael realizes that he'll do anything to keep his new-found family together. He hits the reverend over the head repeatedly until he loses consciousness, then takes him to the pool in the wheelbarrow. Michael then holds Mr. Brookes' head under the water until he stops thrashing, and then some. Afterward, the body has to be disposed of, but Michael cannot lift the body whole. They preserve the body in salt, then dismembers it into 31 sacks. Michael leaves Walden Manor for a couple of weeks to dispose of the sacks. Working only at night, Michael deprives himself of both sleep and food as he works to dispose of the body parts.

When Shelley pays an unexpected visit to Walden Manor, who does Michael act as to dupe her into believing that all is well?

Michael Standish-Cave. Michael pretends to be a relation of the Standish-Caves that own Walden Manor and presents Steph as his wife and Charlie as their son. Michael explains that they were between flats and needed a place to stay for a week or so, and decided to come to Walden Manor for the duration. Jean acts meek, as though she is the displaced house-sitter, and Shelley leaves the manor believing all is well. Despite only acting as though Steph is Michael's wife and Charlie is their son, Michael really wishes it were actually so.

A very prominent object in Jean's history is something her father had left her. What is this heirloom of his?

A longcase clock. Jean mentions that the regular ticking of her father's clock is what stayed with her the most in her memories of him. He tells her that the clock is to be hers, and that she ought not feel badly if she needs to sell it for the money. When he does pass away, Jean decides to sell it so that she can go to university, but ends up falling in with a crooked dealer who only gives her a fraction of what it was worth. Jean later learns from Mother that Mother knew what the clock was worth all along, but through her malice and vindictiveness towards Jean withheld that information to teach her a lesson. Moreover, Mother had known about Jean's real mother, but also did not disclose the truth to Jean until it was too late for Jean to do anything about it. These cracks in Jean's personality were never fully healed, and Jean grew up with an unfulfilled need for love.

What natural poison features at the end of the novel?

monkshood. Jean originally wants to poison the Standish-Caves when they return from their trip to the United States by mixing the monkshood into a cake she is making. The sweetness of the cake, she decides, is strong enough to mask the taste of the monkshood. Nevertheless, a few days before the Standish-Caves are due to return, she realizes that this is a bad idea, as this will only lead to more trouble. People may call on the Standish-Caves, may wonder why they do not return mail or phone calls, and then the authorities would investigate. Jean then realizes that there is only one way that the 'family' can stay together, happy forever. So, she still bakes the cake, but she plans to feed it to the others on the pretense of her birthday, even to Charlie. And, as Steph sings to Charlie, Jean realizes that: "Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream..."