This is the opinion I've been looking for.somersas13 wrote: ↑03 Nov 2018, 11:30 I really liked the minor female characters in the book: Hulga, Maude, and Winona. I thought they were the strongest characters in the book because they were the biggest influences on McDowell in the second part of the book and helped guide him and shape him for the better. While I enjoyed Sophie's character, she was so dependent on her father in so many ways that it wasn't until the end of the book when her father is gone that she starts to come into her own and find her strength. McDowell loved his children, but they felt all extensions of himself in many ways, whereas these minor characters exerted the most influence on him and were wholly independent of his influence. Even Hulga, who seems desperate, is able to teach him to love differently and value women in a way he hadn't previously before.
I find the non-recurring characters much more engaging than the prominent ones. Paige was pretty annoying sometimes and Sophie needed to be more self-reliant (though her arc ended in a positive note and I think she would grow a lot in the future). But Hulga, Maude and Winona was kind, open-minded, wholesome yet still had some humane weaknesses. They were the forces needed to pull McDowell out of his selfish bubble.