The Hypnotist's Love Story

Ellen O’Farrell is a protagonist and one of the two point-of-view characters in the novel. When the story begins, she is 35 years old. She lives in Sydney, Australia, in a cottage on the beach that she inherited from her grandparents. Ellen is an only child and was raised by her mother, Anne, who tells the story of how, when she decided she wanted a child, she carefully selected Ellen’s father and then didn’t tell him about Ellen. David Greenfield went on to marry and move to England, and part of Ellen’s character arc in the story is meeting and establishing a relationship with her father.

Ellen has been in three previous relationships, all of which lasted between one and three years. The most recent, with Jon, left her with a bruised sense of self-esteem. Ellen is looking for a long-term relationship and would like to be a mother, which is why she signs up for an Internet dating site. She finds online dating a bit awkward, but tries to remain upbeat. Ellen hopes that her training as a hypnotherapist makes her skilled at interpersonal relationships, though over the course of the novel, Ellen learns that she is subject to the same fears, worries, and conflicts that other people experience.