The Hypnotist's Love Story

Saskia serves as the antagonist of the novel, a second main character and point-of-view narrator is who is a foil and rival to Ellen. Saskia is 43 and was raised in Tasmania, but moved to Sydney a few years prior to the novel’s events. Her father died when she was young, and Saskia was raised by her mother, Clara. Clara passed away from cancer before the story opens, and Saskia still grieves, especially since she died shortly before Patrick broke up with Saskia, which connects these two heartbreaks in Saskia’s mind. The marble Saskia loses becomes a metaphor for these losses; the marble belonged to her father when he was young, and Saskia reflects early in the story that when she lost the marble, she lost her luck (2).

Saskia doesn’t think of herself as a stalker but is a stalker throughout the novel; she is desperate to know what is going on in Patrick’s life and refuses to accept his lack of romantic interest in her. She continually tries to visit, call, text, or write letters to him in order to gain his attention and in hopes that he might realize what he’s lost and love her again. Saskia repetitively recalls warm and loving memories with Patrick, and she was stunned when he wanted to break up. Though she realizes he was grieving his dead wife and it was likely Saskia felt more for him than he for her, she was happy to be with him, and she loved taking care of Jack for three years. When Patrick breaks things off, she loses contact with Jack, and that is deeply painful. Saskia attends his soccer games, watching from afar, and it feels to her like she’s lost her entire family. This loneliness is part of what drives her to want to remain part of Patrick’s life, even as he moves on with Ellen.

Part of Saskia’s internal conflict stems from the fact that she feels she presents as a well-adjusted, competent person on the outside. She is a town planner and accomplished at her job; her coworkers like and respect her. It is her personal life that feels like a shambles. When Patrick met her he says, she “seemed so sane” (147). She enjoyed bushwalking and hiking the national parks. She used to be very active, but when she developed an unexplained pain in her leg, this limited her movement considerably. While the source of her pain is never identified, it serves as a metaphor for the dissonance in her relationship with Patrick that Saskia never perceived. After several medical professionals have tried and failed to help her, Saskia uses her leg pain as a reason to arrange for sessions with Ellen.

When Ellen meets Saskia as Deborah Vandenberg, she finds her “tall and confident, with short dark hair and a tomboyish grace” (69). She is striking, with hazel eyes, almost gold; “a tiger’s eyes” (149), Ellen thinks. She is well-dressed and articulate. Ellen contrasts herself to Deborah, thinking she “seemed like an attractive professional fortyish woman who would be in one of those elegant relationships involving vineyards and boating and really high-quality sex, with no accidental pregnancies” (150). The truth is quite different, as Saskia’s loneliness is overwhelming her. She finds it difficult to relate to or be vulnerable with other people, for instance declining to spend time with her new neighbors and insisting to Ellen that she was never actually hypnotized in their sessions.

For most of the novel, Saskia refuses to seek treatment for her unhealthy coping mechanisms and stalking behavior, until Ellen’s pregnancy causes her behavior to escalate to new and dangerous levels. She breaks into Patrick and Ellen’s home and stalks them in their bedroom until Patrick confronts her. When she falls down the stairs and breaks her pelvis and Jack’s arm, Saskia realizes that her pursuit of Patrick is harming him and others. When she is able to face the consequences of her behavior—and form new interests, as well as find new friends—she is at last able to heal from her grief and move on.

Patrick is a major character and the connecting point between the two female protagonists. He represents the relationship that both women want, but he also serves to help both Saskia and Ellen understand the complexities of romantic love and grief.

Ellen describes him during an initial date as a “nice man, this self-employed, suburban surveyor, this single dad who liked camping and cricket and country music” (3). Ellen thinks of him as ordinary all around, with an “ordinary pleasant face” (3), a receding hairline, and broad shoulders. He is in his late 30s or early 40s and is a father to Jack, whom he had with his late wife, Colleen. Patrick fell in love with Colleen when he was 18. She passed away of cancer seven years before the story opens, dying when Jack was one. Patrick’s grief was so powerful that he couldn’t bear to face it, instead pushing his pain aside and trying to distract himself by starting his own surveying business and getting involved with Saskia. Patrick realized about three years into their relationship that he didn’t really love Saskia and it was unkind to continue with her, letting her be Jack’s mother, letting her believe all was well.

Over the course of the novel, Patrick comes to realize that, when they broke up, he didn’t try to understand Saskia’s perspective, and he didn’t consider how much she cared for Jack. He finds her stalking behavior deeply frustrating and unsettling, a type of punishment. Ellen observes that being on guard for Saskia and feeling tormented by her is making Patrick harsh and bitter. Part of his character arc entails learning to consider the feelings of others, as well as learning to be aware of and express his own feelings, such as when he explains to Ellen that his love for her is different, and more mature, than his love for Colleen. Once Saskia stops stalking him, Patrick is able to relax into his life and becomes a devoted husband and father.