Do you think Carol was naïve to believe she could keep her identity secret?
If she was able to remain undetected during her “hobby” years, she probably had few concerns (except for apartment furnishings, etc.). Besides realistically-would she take her diary and how did she keep it with her previously. You have to give a lot of leeway with this book.
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I think she was hopeful she could keep her identity a secret, but probably knew it would be difficult.
Yes, I think she was naive to believe she could keep her identity secret but in part this made her a likeable character
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Probably it was unreasonable to assume she could keep her past hidden indefinitely. Perhaps she should have gotten a name change, kind of a “perpetrator protection program.”
Carol seemed to have a naive personality when I consider her reasons for killing. “Gee, who wouldn’t have done the same in my situation?” The author intended her to seem naive perhaps even a bit on the innocent side. Carol wasn’t depicted as the cruel, insane serial killer that exists in real life. If she believed she had been wronged then she wronged back!
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Yes although when she went to prison there was not widespread social media. It’s much easier now to look up people to discover their pasts.
Well the management of Sheldon Oaks weren’t going to expose her. It wasn’t until Desmond was murdered that others found out.
She kind of set herself up for the reveal.
I’m not sure I’d call Carol naive, perhaps just overly optimistic. As DeAnn_A pointed out, media scrutiny wasn’t as intense when she was convicted although being a female serial killer is rather rare. Also, the English setting might have played a role. If she hadn’t met a former policeman an Cabinet member in the retirement home, it’s possible she could have kept her past a secret.
Maybe? She was really quick to ask, as she stood before a detective, home secretary, and pathologist, “How is this place so full of criminal investigators?”
The fact that she picked up on that unusual coincidence made me like her all the more and smile at her choice of friends.
No i think the author made her so we as readers you instantly take a liking to her. She also had been in jail and confined to a cell and not exposed to the sickness of the outside world.
The abundance of crime related careers of so many of the residents in the facility made it highly unlikely that Carol was going to be able to keep her identity a secret. Also, senior citizens in care facilities can be very gossipy. It’s like being back in junior high school again!
I didn’t think she expected to keep her identity a secret—and she didn’t seem to me to have the psychological makeup of a serial killer so was the weak link in the book because her character required the reader to suspend belief in the type of person you would expect Carol to be!
These days, when everything is shouted from social media, it would seem naïve, but she wasn’t haunted by her killings - they were what had to be done;, so she wasn’t constantly in a state of nervous trepidation of being found out.
I agree with you. I liked her even more because of it
I thought it was pretty disingenuous of her to at least keep her last name. I did find that odd as she had been careful enough to hide her crimes. Perhaps she knew the secret would eventually be revealed but believed she could convince everyone that her retirement was real. I also liked that about Carol.
I think she was naïve. She went away before social media was prevalent. She would have not been found out if there were not wo many cops in the home.
Yes, I think she was naive to think it would remain secret. These things usually come out eventually.
I think she was more hopeful, than naive