The Younger Wife

As one of the novel’s central protagonists, Tully Harris is a dynamic character whose identity is built on a foundation of immense anxiety and a compulsive need for control. Her primary coping mechanism is kleptomania, which represents her attempts to gain agency in a life where she feels powerless. The act of stealing provides a temporary release from the pressure of maintaining a perfect image, a “game face” her father taught her to wear. This compulsion is not about acquiring objects; it is about the act of taking, which gives her a fleeting sense of control that her highly structured life as a wealthy wife and mother fails to provide. Her fixation on cleanliness and order in her home is another manifestation of this need, creating a contrast with the internal chaos that drives her to shoplift. 

Tully’s character arc is defined by the dismantling of this facade. The process begins with an external crisis when her husband, Sonny, reveals he has lost their fortune in a bad investment. This financial precarity shatters her sense of security and exacerbates her anxiety, leading to an increase in her stealing. The social humiliation she fears comes to fruition when she is caught