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Samuel W. Westing
The snobby, social-climbing Grace Wexler is the wife of Jake Wexler and the mother of Turtle and Angela. She’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. A self-proclaimed heiress with a passion for interior design—and a penchant for bigotry and self-absorption to the point of narcissism—Grace is, at the start of the novel, trying desperately to outrun her humble origins and disguise herself as a moneyed, mannered socialite. Grace claims to be related to Sam Westing, though she is purposefully vague about their connection and continues to disguise her maiden name (Windkloppel, which is also Sam Westing’s original family name) from the other heirs. Grace is paired with James Shin Hoo in the Westing game, and though the two of them have trouble seeing eye to eye—largely due to Grace’s racism—Grace eventually comes to understand the complexity of her game partner’s experiences and helps him revive and reinvigorate his floundering restaurant business. Grace is obsessed with appearances—as such, she encourages Angela to marry the successful plastic surgery intern Dr. Denton Deere without even considering whether the teenaged Angela is prepared to marry so young. Over the course of the novel, Grace slowly learns how skewed her priorities have been and how cruelly she’s treated not just her neighbors but her own family. By discounting her husband’s profession, pressuring her eldest daughter into marriage, and constantly berating her youngest daughter Turtle for her offbeat tomboyish-ness, Grace has alienated herself from those she loves most. In playing the Westing game, she learns to see not just the strangers who are her fellow players but her own family members as complex people with agency of their own.
Grace Windsor (Windkloppel) Wexler Quotes in The Westing Game
The The Westing Game quotes below are all either spoken by Grace Windsor (Windkloppel) Wexler or refer to Grace Windsor (Windkloppel) Wexler. 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 16 Quotes
Madame Hoo served in a tight-fitting silk gown slit high up her thigh, a costume as old-fashioned and impractical as bound feet. Women in China wore blouses and pants and jackets. That's what she would wear when she got home.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Grace Windsor (Windkloppel) Wexler Character Timeline in The Westing Game
The timeline below shows where the character Grace Windsor (Windkloppel) Wexler appears in The Westing Game. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...appeal to each of his six clients. He highlights the luxurious chandeliers as he leads Grace Windsor Wexler and her husband, Jake, around a unit, which he tells them is the...
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Chapter 3
...Flora Baumbach, a dressmaker who lives and works in an apartment on the second floor. Grace Windsor Wexler, Angela’s haughty, judgmental mother, supervises the fitting from a velvet couch in the...
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...if Flora can hem the witch costume Turtle has selected to wear tonight for Halloween. Grace chides Turtle for trying to distract Flora from her work on Angela’s dress with her...
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Chapter 5
Grace Windsor Wexler and her daughters arrive at the Westing house the next day at the...
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...the boy’s diagnosis into Angela’s ear. Angela hurries from the room. When Judge Ford enters, Grace makes a big show of shaking the woman’s hand—she wonders if the judge’s mother was...
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...heirs have not yet arrived. Mr. Hoo says that his wife is not coming, and Grace says her husband isn’t either. She explains he was called away for emergency surgery, but...
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Chapter 6
...The will, composed by Westing, declares that he has gathered his “sixteen nieces and nephews” together—Grace stands up and explodes in surprise, at which point Plum reads a directive from the...
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Chapter 7
...to the invalid Chris. Chris, though, is excited. Sandy McSouthers is paired with Judge Ford. Grace is paired with Mr. Hoo. Berthe Erica Crow is paired with Otis Amber. Theo is...
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Chapter 8
Upstairs at the restaurant, Grace and Mr. Hoo puzzle over their clues. Grace compliments Madame Hoo’s “doll-like” demeanor and asks...
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Hoo and Grace try to divine the clues in front of them: FRUITED, PURPLE, WAVES, FOR, and SEA....
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...Sydelle go over their clues: GOOD, HOOD, FROM, SPACIOUS, and GRACE. Sydelle points out that Grace is Angela’s mother’s name—but she also acknowledges that the will stated it was what the...
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Chapter 9
...but the other Sunset Towers residents begin using the elevator wall as a bulletin board. Grace asks for the return of her stolen silver cross necklace. An anonymous note asks those...
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...Westing game. Turtle returns home to her own apartment to get ready for the party. Grace asks if she can fix Turtle’s hair, and Turtle reluctantly lets her mother brush out...
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...They are planning on wearing identical costumes to find out if anyone is a twin. Grace asks Sydelle if she’ll show her her notes. Sydelle refuses to respond. Turtle, uncomfortable, hurries...
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Chapter 10
Though Grace Wexler usually arrives fashionably late to parties, she doesn’t want to miss a second of...
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Meanwhile, Grace fusses over Angela and tells her she’s arranged for Mr. Hoo to cater her upcoming...
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Chapter 11
...asks if anyone is a twin—no one answers. Another asks what Turtle’s real name is. Grace states that it is Tabitha-Ruth. The next question asks who has actually met Sam Westing...
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Chapter 12
...filled with red and purple sparks. As the Hoos and the Theodorakises smolder with suspicion, Grace discusses how the kitchen might be redecorated.
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...is in a foul mood because the stock market has fallen today. Turtle says that Grace believes Angela stole the notebook. Sydelle is hurt by the idea that her own partner...
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Chapter 13
...be extra-busy because of the closure of the Theodorakis coffee shop. At that very moment, Grace Wexler—the new seating hostess at Shin Hoo’s—tacks up a new ad for the restaurant in...
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Grace seats Jake at a table with the sour-faced Turtle, who is listening to the stock...
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...through the kitchen and Hoo attempts to get everyone to stay exactly where they are, Grace tries to calm everyone down by insisting there’s been a “little mishap.” As Hoo comes...
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...and a fire inspector arrive on the scene and declare the matter a gas explosion. Grace asks the policeman to address the burglaries, but he insists he’s with the bomb squad,...
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Chapter 14
Grace and Hoo get into an argument about the costs of redecorating—Grace insists it will take...
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Chapter 15
...empty. He decides to go to Shin Hoo’s and give them some business. He finds Grace working at the desk. She sits down with him at his table but insists she’s...
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Chapter 16
Grace calls for Angela to open her gifts in front of her guests gathered in the...
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Chapter 17
...Hoo’s to eat lunch and to converse with Madame Hoo, who is learning English quickly. Grace and Hoo show their clues to Jake, who quickly interprets “PURPLE” and “FRUITED” as pointing...
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Chapter 18
...remove Turtle. Turtle runs away, warning Angela not to tell the lawyer anything. Moments later, Grace enters—seeing the man she believes is the murderer standing over Angela, she screams.
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Chapter 19
As Jake Wexler enjoys lunch, Crow shows up to Hoo’s restaurant. Grace seats her; Madame Hoo is serving a special tea lunch. As Madame Hoo serves Jake,...
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...flask from his pocket and takes a drink. He is surprised when Ford exclaims that Grace’s maiden name, Windkloppel, corresponds to the name of Crow’s ex-husband, Windy Windkloppel. Ford rereads the...
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Chapter 22
...Mr. Hoo get into the elevator on their way to Doug’s track meet, Hoo laments Grace’s bad luck and gives thanks that his son is just a “dumb jock.” Madame Hoo,...
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Jake and Grace, in the elevator on the way to Doug’s track meet, argue over Turtle. Grace insults...
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As the elevator doors open on the lobby, Grace begins crying. She apologizes for being so cruel. Jake presses the button to go back...
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Jake leads the sobbing Grace into their apartment. Angela and Sydelle, newly home from the hospital, are inside. Grace and...
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Chapter 23
...medals and who receives great applause from everyone. The Wexlers walk in—it is obvious that Grace is drunk. She is so far gone that she doesn’t even recognize Turtle with her...
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...answer “Mr. Westing was a good man.” Ford and Sandy do not provide an answer. Grace and Hoo offer “Plum” as their answer. Grace drunkenly announces the grand re-opening of Hoo’s...
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Chapter 26
...states that Barney Northrup called him to investigate six potential tenants: Ford, George Theodorakis, Hoo, Grace, Flora, and a Sybil Pulaski—whom he mistook for Sydelle. Ford is impressed by Westing’s decision...
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...the story about Westing’s corpse being laid out on a rug in the Westing manor. Grace drunkenly cries about seeing Sandy’s corpse on a rug in the Westing house library.
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Chapter 30
Eastman asks about his niece, Gracie Windkloppel. T.R. reveals that Grace now has ten restaurants. Jake, meanwhile, is the state crime commissioner. Eastman asks how T.R.’s...
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