A Slow Fire Burning

Miriam is a significant character in the novel; her actions contribute to the rising action of the plot because she deliberately misleads the police in order to make Carla the prime suspect in Daniel’s murder. Miriam is a middle-aged woman who lives alone on a houseboat anchored in a canal and works at a local bookstore. Miriam is repeatedly characterized as physically unattractive and eccentric in her behavior; she describes how people perceive her as “a fat, middle-aged woman with no money and no husband and no power” (74), and Laura remarks on how she has always regarded Miriam as “short and hairy and she looked like she might live in a burrow” (155). Miriam is keenly aware of her lack of social status and money and contrasts this lack with the privilege people like Theo and Carla enjoy: They “have all the money and therefore all the power” (76).

Miriam’s isolation, disempowerment, and history of trauma (as a teenager she was abducted and held captive while a close friend was murdered) make her crave agency, power, and revenge. As soon as she finds Daniel’s body, she begins to scheme as to how to use this event to hurt Theo, reflecting that “Daniel Sutherland had presented Miriam with an opportunity she could simply not allow to slide by: an opportunity to avenge the wrong that had been done to her” (12). Miriam is cunning and crafty in terms of how she manipulates the situation, but she can also be sympathetic to those whom she perceives as vulnerable: She tells Laura that “I’ve been protecting you all along” (194). At the end of the novel, Miriam finally achieves a sense of justice and closure by killing the man who abducted her and murdered her friend.

Carla is the novel’s antagonist as she is revealed to be Daniel’s murderer. Carla is Theo’s ex-wife (they still have a romantic relationship), Daniel’s aunt, and Angela’s sister. Carla had a young son, Ben, who died about 15 years before the action of the novel begins, and she has been haunted by her loss ever since. Carla’s grief for both her son and her sister, who died tragically, leads her to kill Daniel since she believes that Daniel intentionally caused Ben’s death and spent years insisting that Angela was responsible. As Carla explains, “I didn’t just do this for Ben, I did it for Angela” (286).

Unlike most of the other major female characters, Carla is elegant and conventionally attractive. She is wealthy and has a man who adores her. All of these factors make Carla privileged and arrogant. When Irene chastises Carla for letting Laura take the blame for her crime, Carla coldly responds that “that has nothing to do with me” (284). Carla experiences limited development, but her perspective shifts when she finds Daniel’s notebook, which depicts scenes implying that he caused Ben’s death. Carla was initially sympathetic towards her nephew, but she becomes consumed with hatred when she believes he is guilty. At the end of the novel, Carla experiences another shift as she begins to doubt whether she can be certain of Daniel’s guilt though she never admits to regretting her actions.