We don’t begin the story of the icy stranger’s life with an introduction like, “Hi, I’m Victor and I like warm hugs!” The only reason we learn the strangers name is he mentions it when relaying a story about a conversation with his mother. The stranger rescued by R. Walton has a rich cultural history that carried him and his family throughout Europe. His family life had an abundance of love, and when a friend of his father fell into financial despair, his dad rescued his friend’s daughter from poverty, and the two later married. Later his mother adopted a golden haired orphan named Elizabeth Lavanza from a poor Italian family so he’d finally have a sister; Victor insisted she was more than a sister to him.
Marriage in those days was one of the few outs a female born into poverty had which was why Victor’s dad married his friend’s daughter. His mother was so appreciative that she used her newfound wealth to give back to the poor and felt an obligation to rescue the orphaned Elizabeth. In turn, Victor sees his newly adopted sister as belonging to him – from this we can surmise that it was his solemn duty to marry her as a form of protection. It’s clear from what little we know that he deeply loved Elizabeth, and that she’s now dead, but we don’t yet know how this ties into the story.
Here are the key points to chapter 1:
- Victor’s father is much older than his mother
- Victor’s mother is a philanthropist
- Wanting more children, they adopted the golden haired orphan Elizabeth Lavanza
- Victor sees himself as her protector, but now that Elizabeth is dead, his world is broken
With the combination of sorry, love, and despair we are on our way to a story with many twists and turns. Please follow this link for places to listen.