When Will There Be Good News?

When Will There Be Good News?

by

Kate Atkinson

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on When Will There Be Good News? makes teaching easy.

The Strolling Woman Character Analysis

When Jackson Brodie is briefly lost in rural Yorkshire, he passes a woman in a cardigan and scarf, around age 40, who’s casually strolling through the countryside. When he offers her a ride, she laughs and tells him, “You’re going the wrong way.” Jackson never knows the woman’s identity, but her memory haunts him when he finds himself on the wrong train and later when he’s near death.
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The Strolling Woman Character Timeline in When Will There Be Good News?

The timeline below shows where the character The Strolling Woman appears in When Will There Be Good News?. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Ad Augusta per Angusta
Appearances vs. Reality Theme Icon
Suddenly Jackson sees someone ahead, walking on foot. It’s a strolling woman in a cardigan and scarf, around forty, with a librarian’s air. Jackson offers a lift.... (full context)
To Brig o’ Dread Thou Com’st at Last
Appearances vs. Reality Theme Icon
...accidentally caught the train from King’s Cross, not to King’s Cross. He realizes that the strolling woman he’d encountered in the Yorkshire Dales was right—he is going the wrong way. (full context)
Rapture Ready
Trauma, Survival, and Reckoning with the Past Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
...He slips back down, and his consciousness begins to fade from blood loss. The mysterious strolling woman he’d seen walking in the Yorkshire Dales haunts his mind. He puts Marlee’s face in... (full context)
Safely Gathered In
Trauma, Survival, and Reckoning with the Past Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
...Reggie had salvaged from his jacket for him. He misses Reggie. He wonders about the strolling woman , too. “Everywhere you looked, there was unfinished business and unanswered questions.” He’d thought everything... (full context)