Now that's where the possibility that Ms Winter was really one of them came to me, they didn't make it that clear. I think it had to have been Adeline though, Emmeline went back in for the baby. Adeline wanted the baby dead and wouldn't have gone after it. Unless being in the fire and thinking she lost the baby made Emmeline regress to a non-functional state, she was doing getting along normally before the fire.

I thought it was Adeline that perished too.  But I do remember being confused over that, and that the author didn't really make that clear, maybe she wanted the point to be left up to discussion.

What is the significance of Jane Eyre to the story?

I don't think I've ever read it, I saw the old Orson Welles movie. I guess there is a parallel with the locked up crazy woman but really it was a little annoying how often they mentioned the book. Write your own book, and if people don't make a connection then they don't. It's not clever to write something inspired by something else and then point out what you did. One of my few beefs with the book.

I already talked about this in an earlier post, so I'll copy that here.

The mention of Jane Eyre throughout the book was a clue to the mystery, although I didn't recognize it until Margaret did.  In the early part of Jane Eyre, she is orphaned and sent to live with a relative, where only a servant is kind to her.  This mirrors Miss Winter's early life as she struggled to survive, and only through the kindness of the gardener and housekeeper was she able to do so.

Do you think it is harder to keep a secret or confess the complete truth?

For me it's harder to keep a secret. Unless it's a doozy I'm a full disclosure kind or person and tend to overshare. That kind of came about after my extended hospital stay. When you have to discuss the details of your bowel movements on a daily basis with many different strangers for months it kind of makes you immune to embarassment and blurs the lines of what normal people want to hear. I've also been naked in front of so many people I have little modesty left.

Last question for this book: Were you satisfied with the way the story ended for various characters--Aurelius, Hester, Margaret?

Yeah, everyone seemed happy. They all got what they wanted, except I don't think it said anything different about Margaret's mother. I don't remember anyway, it might have. Aurelius got a family and learned where he came from. Ms Winter got her story out, she and her sister went together so neither one was left alone. I would have liked to see the story published, it's a heck of a tale. Was Hester the housekeeper? I forgot what happened to her.

So sorry for my delay in this discussion, fellow readers, I have finally got to the meat of this book and I am enjoying it very much! I hope I haven't missed the entire discussion!!  

To answer your question Barb, Hester was the governess who had to leave due to an unwise  indiscretion (hope that is not a spoiler for anyone!) 

 and the Missus was the Housekeeper and it sounded like she had short term memory loss or the beginnings of Alzheimers.

Yeah this one is done Debra. I don't know if we'll be doing another one for a while. It seems like everyone is preoccupied with other things right now.

Alright, I am really sorry I missed it, my reading speed has slowed down considerably in the past few years but I have enjoyed the book immensely!!

Please let me know when you start up again and I'll do my best to be more expedient!

You can go back and answer the questions anyway, I'd like to see someone else's take on it and I'm sure others would too.

Yes, Debra, jump in!

Hi,  Any new picks for the Basement Book Club? I am interested even tho I was slow on the last one, I did finish and was happy with the ending, the author did a good job of tying up loose ends and the interview in the extras was very enlightening! 

Please keep me posted, because you know how life is, sometimes it interferes in my reading, Thanks

I believe it was Adeline.  After the funeral of Miss Winter's sister, the author refers to the deceased as "the woman referred to as Emmeline."

I just finished the book today.  What a great story--kept me guessing to the very end.

I'm not sure I'm ready to start a new book just yet because these characters are still a part of me.  Diane Setterfield says it eloquently in the story:  

"Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you?  You leave the previous book with ideas and themes--characters even--caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you."   (P. 289-290)

FYI--Diane Setterfield has a new book coming out November 5, 2013.  Bellman & Black: a Ghost Story.  It is a novella rather than a full-length novel.

I get that feeling too with a really good but it doesn't usually last very long, luckily. Sometimes you have to just sit there for a bit and do noting afterwards. That's a good book.