Winter in Paradise

As the protagonist of the novel, Irene begins the story as a woman confident in the idyllic life she’s meticulously constructed. An editor for Heartland Home & Style, her identity is deeply intertwined with the restoration of her 1892 Queen Anne home, a six-year renovation project that serves as a tangible representation of her design eye and attention to detail. As the novel opens, her forced “promotion” that she correctly interprets as a demotion, and the loneliness she feels due to her husband Russ’s frequent business trips, signal cracks in the idyllic façade of her life. The news of Russ’s death, the novel’s inciting incident, propels her from a state of comfortable complacency into the role of a determined investigator. Irene is a dynamic and round character whose development is central to the narrative. Her journey from Iowa to St. John allows her to uncover the truth of her marriage and gives her the freedom to decide who she wants to be in the wake of Russ’s death.

Irene’s character is defined by her profound transformation in the face of devastating betrayal. The discovery that Russ not only owned a secret villa but also had a second family dismantles her perception of her 35-year marriage and her own identity as a wife.