Do Not Disturb

Rosalie is Nick’s wife and the co-owner of the Baxter Motel. She used to run Rosalie’s Diner, a restaurant behind the motel. After Nick and Rosalie fell in love in high school, Nick bought the diner for her so she could fulfill her dream of becoming a chef. However, after Rosalie has a miscarriage, she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and falls into a deep depression. For several years, she remains in her wheelchair in her room. Nick repeatedly tries to get her to move downstairs, modify the restaurant so that she can still work, do physical therapy, and take antidepressants; however, she refuses to do all these things. Instead, she contemplates death by suicide, seeing how unhappy Nick has become by being her constant caretaker.

Rosalie’s character conveys two of the text’s themes: The Psychological Impact of Trauma and Abuse and The Dangers of Jealousy. After Rosalie has a miscarriage, she is warned by the doctor that a second attempt at pregnancy could have an extreme impact on Rosalie’s health, possibly even leading to death. The trauma of Rosalie’s diagnosis and her miscarriage have a lasting effect on her, leading her to give up her dreams of running the restaurant and falling into a deep depression. Additionally, Rosalie becomes consumed by watching Nick at the motel, specifically his interactions with the women who stay there. She becomes convinced that Nick is having an affair with Christina, and then Quinn, with her jealousy turning into obsession as she tracks Nick’s movements for hours and days at a time.

By the end of the novel, Rosalie changes, learning to appreciate what she has and dealing with her jealousy and depression in a healthier way. In the moment that Claudia is about to kill her, she thinks how:

My life isn’t hopeless, and I don’t want to die. I want my restaurant back. I want to get those contractors in and convert the kitchen so I can use it again even if I can’t stand or walk. I want to do a course of physical therapy so that I can take care of myself again and I don’t have to depend on Nick for every little thing. And I want Nick. (266)

These thoughts convey how the threat from Claudia is the catalyst for her change in the novel. She realizes that she has been consumed by the grief and trauma of her illness, and she is finally willing to fix her life to live it to the fullest. When she stops Claudia and Nick comes into the room, her admission that she “think[s] this dining room would make a really great bedroom” (307) conveys that change, as she is finally willing to try to adapt her life to her illness. At the end of the novel, she is fully reconciled with Nick, back to work at the restaurant, and about to have her first child.

Claudia is a point-of-view character in the novel and the primary antagonist. She has been married to her husband, Rob, for six years, but their marriage has become “stale” (130) in recent years, leading to constant frustration and a lack of effort between the two. In Rob’s point of view chapter, it is also revealed that she has verbally and physically assaulted Rob, scarring him with a paperweight during one of their many fights. 

As an unreliable narrator, there are two versions of Claudia that are portrayed in the text. Throughout her first point of view section, she gives the impression that she is concerned about Quinn’s well-being. Claudia is passionate and motivated, demanding more information from Scott about Derek’s murder and choosing to hide information from the police to pursue Quinn. She portrays herself as desperate to find Quinn to help her, while showing indifference to Derek’s murder. However, the next time she narrates, it is revealed that she has been having an affair with Derek. Instead of seeking to help Quinn, she is trying to find her so that she can kill her for what she did to Derek.

Claudia’s primary motivation is the jealousy and resentment she holds toward Quinn. When their parents died over a decade before, Claudia felt as though she needed to drop out of college to care for her younger sister. As a result, Quinn was able to go to college, get a good job, and marry Derek—whom Claudia considers to be a much better husband than Rob. Claudia lives her life by constantly comparing herself to Quinn, building her jealousy and resentment as she insists that her life is worse. In this way, Claudia’s character develops the theme of The Dangers of Jealousy. Claudia becomes fixated on killing Quinn in retaliation for Derek’s death, conveying the impact that festering jealousy and resentment can have on people. She ends the novel in prison for her attempted murders of Quinn, Greta, and Rosalie.

Nick is the owner of the Baxter Motel and Rosalie’s husband. After Rosalie was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, he dedicated his life to caring for her as well as running the motel on his own. Despite Rosalie’s insistence that he would be better off without her, he remains adamant throughout the text that he is in love with her and just wants to support her. 

Despite his kindness, Nick is also a flawed character, as he has an affair with Christina while she is at the motel. While Nick’s actions are portrayed as selfish and inconsiderate, as he cheats on his terminally ill partner, they also convey the extreme impact that Rosalie’s diagnosis has had on both of their lives. He remains loyal and dedicated to her for years, yet becomes overwhelmed by her refusal to try to adapt to her new life and improve her situation. Ultimately, there is hope for their relationship at the end of the novel, as Rosalie acknowledges her depression and they both make steps toward improving their lives.

Rob is Claudia’s husband and a minor point-of-view character in the novel. He is a plumber. He married Claudia six years before the start of the novel, and he acknowledges that their relationship is failing. 

Rob is a flat character, with little known about him in the text. He serves largely as a foil to Derek, as Claudia constantly compares the two of them. She thinks of how Derek makes more money, is more attractive, is more successful, and even that he is a better lover than Rob. She imagines a dream life where she leaves Rob to be with Derek. However, these differences serve to highlight the most important difference between the two that Claudia ignores: Derek is abusive. Rob and Derek together convey the theme of Appearance Versus Reality. While it appears that Derek is a better person in every way—in Claudia’s eyes—the reality is that Rob is the better person and husband.