The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Throughout the novel, Aiden has the opportunity to observe a number of parent-child relationships, often with elements of secrecy involved. Although Aiden starts off by fixating on how parents can often be cruel to their children (he thinks that Evelyn’s parents are mistreating her, and that her mother might even be planning to murder her), he eventually comes to see parents loving and protecting their children even when those children are not necessarily deserving. Several of the parent-child relationships depicted in the novel involve a parent having an illegitimate or secret child: Cunningham is Lady Helena’s illegitimate son, and the young maid Lucy is Stanwin’s daughter. In both cases, the parent goes to great ends to protect and care for their child, even if they cannot publicly acknowledge them. Aiden reflects that Stanwin “probably funneled his family a little money over the years, intending to make them comfortable” (309) while he learns from Cunningham that Lady Helena would “ask after my happiness, my education. She was kind to me” (326).

When Aiden spends time in the host body of Jonathan Derby, he also has the chance to observe the relationship between Jonathan and his mother, Millicent. Jonathan Derby is a violent and cruel rapist, but nonetheless, Millicent protects her son from the consequences of his action. As Doctor Dickie explains, “How many times have you wept at your mother’s breast, begging her to fix it, promising never to do it again and knowing full well that you would?” (191-192). While the novel presents some characters, such as Anna, as capable of redemption, it also presents figures like Derby who are completely irredeemable, leaving Aiden disgusted and horrified when he has to experience the lusts and rages of his host. Even so, when Millicent Derby dies, Aiden can feel the intensity of Jonathan’s grief: “No matter how much I tell myself that this woman isn’t my mother, I can’t make it let go” (201). This parent-child relationship shows how even when the child is undeserving, his parent tends to love and protect him.

Perhaps the most striking example of parents protecting an undeserving child is the tragic history of Lady Helena and Charlie Carver covering up their daughter’s murder of her own brother. As Evelyn callously explains, “Carver filled in the rest for me. Accident, children playing, that sort of thing. He handed me the story gift wrapped” (415). This explanation also completely changes the interpretation of what Stanwin saw when he came upon Lady Helena with the body of her dead child: “She kept saying it was an accident. That was it, over and over again” (312). Rather than a woman trying to cover up a heinous crime, Lady Helena was a distraught mother protecting her daughter. While Carver gives up his own life by taking the blame for the crime, Evelyn is “utterly without empathy, intolerant of remorse” (416) as she finally reveals the true story. Evelyn also heartlessly kills the mother who protected her for almost 20 years. By the end of the novel, rather than seeing Evelyn as the victim of her parents’ greed, Aiden is able to see Lord Peter, Lady Helena, and Charlie Carver as the victims of Evelyn’s brutal violence.