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Katherine “Kathy” Kirk
Abigail’s father, a handsome half-Norwegian architect who left Abigail and her mother Kathy when he took up with another woman some years ago. Weyland’s absence and betrayal have both weighed heavily on Abigail, and caused her to shut herself off from other people and from the world. He designed the building in which Abigail and Kathy live.
Weyland Kirk Quotes in Playing Beatie Bow
The Playing Beatie Bow quotes below are all either spoken by Weyland Kirk or refer to Weyland Kirk. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
The May holidays always made [Abigail] feel forlorn and restless. […] if her mother didn’t want her to help at the shop, she spent hours squashed into the corner of the brown armchair, which had once been a kindly bear and now was only a bear-shaped chair near a window which looked out on cranes and mast tops, on the deck of the Harbour Bridge and the pearly cusps of the Opera House rising through the gauzy murk like Aladdin’s palace. Mumping, her mother called it. But she was not doing that, or even thinking. Mostly she was just aware of something missing. When she was young she thought it was her father, for she had missed him miserably as well as hating him. […] But now she wasn’t a kid she knew that it wasn’t the absence of her father that caused the empty place inside. It was a part of her and she didn’t know what it was or why it was there.
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Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Park demonstrates Abigail’s ambivalence toward her surroundings. She lives in Sydney, a major cultural hub with both a complicated history and an ultra-modern, vibrant present; still, Abigail would rather shut herself up inside and nurse the “empty place” inside of herself than engage with the world around her. Abigail both wants for no one to know her, and for something to come along and make her feel whole, or complete—and these tensions will drive her character as the novel begins to unfold. Abigail does not know much about herself, though she seems to purport to. She wants Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur m
Chapter 2 Quotes
“Oh, I know all you schoolgirls think you know every last word in the book about the relationships between a man and a woman; but love is a thing you have to experience before you know—” she hesitated, and then blurted out—“how powerful it can be.”
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The first chapter established Abigail’s withdrawn nature and slightly bitter demeanor. Abigail’s desire to stave off connection originates largely in her father’s betrayal. When he left Abigail and her mother to live with another woman, Abigail was so deeply hurt that she cultivated a disdain for love and connection and a staunch independence. Now, as Abigail’s mother confesses that not only has she been secretly seeing Abigail’s father, but she wants to accept his offer to live together once again as a family, Abigail lashes out at her mother, whom she sees as spineless and naïve. Abigail’s mother, in this Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident exped
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Weyland Kirk Character Timeline in Playing Beatie Bow
The timeline below shows where the character Weyland Kirk appears in Playing Beatie Bow. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...devoted to her parents—especially her father, whom she saw as a “king.” When Abigail’s father Weyland left her and her mother and went off with another woman, he promised Lynnie that...
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...got worse when Kathy sold their family home and moved into an apartment unit that Weyland—an architect—had given to her. Her daughter was incensed that Kathy would have accepted such a...
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...in the suburbs, Kathy had collected and kept vintage and antique odds and ends. After Weyland left, Kathy rented a storefront on a high street and opened an antiques shop called...
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...building, she cannot help but admire a plaque in the lobby which lists her father, Weyland Kirk, as an architect of the Mitchell building.
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Chapter 2
...asks her mother what she’s so happy about, Kathy confesses that she had dinner with Weyland last night. The two had never been officially divorced, and they have seen each other...
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Abigail asks her mother if she had just run into Weyland, but Kathy confesses that she has seen her husband quite a few times recently. She...
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Abigail is shocked and disappointed to realize that her mother is considering Weyland’s proposal in earnest, but Kathy insists that Abigail cannot understand love yet—she has not experienced...
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...by the realization that if it came down to a choice, her mother would choose Weyland. Abigail coolly tells her mother that she would rather live on her own at boarding...
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Abigail returns to her own apartment, where she argues some more with her mother about Weyland’s proposition. Kathy berates Abigail for never once having considered how her mother might feel about...
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Chapter 8
...who often told Abigail the tale of the love at first sight she experienced with Weyland. Though Abigail can “scarcely admit it to herself,” she knows deep down that it is...
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Chapter 11
Abigail and Kathy apologize to each other, and resolve to say not another word about Weyland that night. Abigail tries not to think of Judah, but as the night goes on,...
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...goes, she hugs her mother and tells her that they can go to Norway with Weyland—she apologizes for making such a fuss. Kathy is stunned, but visibly excited.
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Chapter 12
A few days after Abigail’s return, Kathy brings Weyland home for dinner. He greets his daughter as “Lynnie” and embraces her. Abigail embraces him...
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Weyland tells Abigail all about Norway, and she admits that she is excited for a new...
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Chapter 13
...after living abroad in several countries for the last few years. As Abigail, Kathy, and Weyland step into their old apartment unit, they notice that it has grown grubbier over the...
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