Arden aka Ada Bates

Arden is the central character/protagonist. The author introduces the protagonist as The Amazing Arden in Chapter 1 and refers to her as Arden throughout the chapters which take place over the course of one night in Janesville, Iowa, in 1905 when she is interrogated by Virgil Holt. However, in the chapters recounting Arden’s life up until the night she met Holt, Arden is referred to by different names. She tells Holt that her real name is Ada Bates and the reader is not given any reason to think that this is not the truth. The past tense chapters continue to refer to Arden as Ada until Clyde helped her pick a new name whilst browsing the shelves of a library in Chapter 19. When Arden first joined Adelaide Hermann’s show, Adelaide referred to her as “Vivi”. Arden’s changing names reflect her adaptive chameleon-like personality...