Billie Slate

Billie is the main character and narrator of this novel. She is outgoing and thoughtful, but she is also chaotic and overly outspoken. As a young wife, she lived in a three-story house with her husband Victor and their infant daughter Louise. During those early years, Victor's mother lived on the ground floor while Billie's mother lived on the third floor. Billie saw herself as capable in her role as wife, mother, and carer for all the people in her home. When Victor moved out, Billie remained with her daughter, mother, and mother-in-law. In the years after Victor departed, the house became empty as her mother-in-law died and her mother moved away. Billie sought to assuage her loneliness by filling the house with random people – some as guests and some as roommates. She also set out with Louise on various adventures in the hope of making Louise...