Character Studies ~ Family

Well, believe it or not, it’s time for another Character Studies!
A quick refresher: Character Studies is a monthly character interview hosted by Morgan Dusky @Studies in Characters. Morgan’s blog has been taken over by her characters, and these eleven are a lot of fun! You should totally check out her (or rather their!) blog.
I’ll be answering the questions for both Part 1 and Part 2.
Today, Miss Selle will be answering the questions. Do you remember her from The Dressmaker’s Secret? Well, if you don’t, she’s the headmistress of Miss Selle’s Boarding School for Girls, which was founded by her mother. She uses the name ‘Selle’ for credit … it’s actually ‘Jones.’ 🙂
So, the questions! This is gonna be great, because she doesn’t really have that great of a family … or any family at tall, besides her sister.

• Who’s your biological family?

My parents are both dead, but I have a younger sister named Henrietta. My mother was an orphan, my father was fatherless, and my paternal grandmother died about five years ago.

• Do you have any family members that aren’t biological (or married into the family)? How did they become part of your family?

Not really, although I’m close to my fellow teachers, Miss Fabrey, Miss Kelly, Mrs. Memphis, and Miss Schilling. I wouldn’t exactly call them sisters, though.

• What’s your idea of a perfect family? How does yours fall short of that ideal?

If my mother were here, I’d be perfectly content, but she’s not. I’d like to become closer to Henrietta, but I don’t see that happening.

• Where would you place your family on a scale of one to ten (one being very estranged, ten being very close)?

Is zero an option?

• What do you think would make your family closer to each other?

I don’t really know. Henrietta can be so … frustrating. It’s dreadfully hard to get along with her. She never listens to me. Maybe if she were to become more responsible, stop acting so wildly …

• What keeps your family from becoming closer?

If I were to be completely honest with myself, it’s mostly me. But I’d rather just blame it on Henrietta.

• What is your family like, compared to any other families in your story?

We’re small and not very loyal to each other. Other families are big and intensely faithful.

• What kind of a role do you play in your family? Are you satisfied with that?

I play the controlling big sister. Despite the fact that she’s an adult herself and should really use more self-control.
I don’t know if I’m satisfied with that place … it seems quite natural, though.

• Is there any one family member you wish you could know better? What stops you from becoming so?

I don’t know if I do or not. Sometimes I feel as if I would benefit from understanding Henrietta better, but what’s the point? She’s not interested in me or anything I do.

• What’s your preferred level of ripeness for fruit?

This seems a rather pointless question, but I’ll answer it. I like things to be crisp. Apples, especially. I can’t stand soft apples. I hate applesauce.

• Who in your family do you quarrel with most often? What are those fights commonly about?

I quarrel with Henrietta, most commonly about her doing some horrendous. One time, she convinced nearly half of my girls to go swimming in their underclothes. Another time, it was tree-climbing. And she a woman of twenty-two!

• What’s your idea of the perfect family outing?

I’d rather go for a walk, try to talk some sense into her, but she never listens to me.

• Is there anyone in your family who is a trouble maker? A “black sheep”?

Despite Henrietta’s trouble-making abilities, she’s not really a black sheep, although I admit I’m not about to introduce her to anyone. There are worse things a woman can do than adding paprika to her sister’s soup.

• Who in your family would most likely try to give you a pick-me-up when you’ve had a bad day?

Not Henrietta, that’s for sure. She’s more likely to take every opportunity she has to put me down. Miss Kelly or Miss Fabrey have been wonderful on occasions, though, when I’ve been a bit depressed.

• Does your family have any secrets?

My mother was French on her father’s side, though, and I rarely talk about it. How she ended up in England, in Norfolk of all places, a ten-year-old orphan, is still a mystery to me.

• Are there any family members you don’t get along with?

Yes …

• Who in your family is most like you?

Mother and I were very similar, I think. She was prettier than I am, but otherwise, we looked like each other and we got along well, although she was decidedly more inclined to be … well, cheerful.

• Who’s the least like you?

Definitely Henrietta. I can’t see anything that we have in common.

• Would you exchange your family for a different one?

It depends. Perhaps I would, but I can’t imagine things as different from what they are. I might have asked to have a more understanding grandmother (not to speak unkindly of the dead, but she was a horror).

• Pillow fight?

Never.

So … whaddaya think? Recently I’ve been writing about Miss Selle in Ivy Introspective. She is so stoic! But she’s a softie for Posy, Mr. Parker’s daughter.
Now, before you go, I’d like to invite you all to a blog party scheduled for the end of September … the 26th to the 30th, to be precise. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and there will be fun prizes to win. 🙂

Spread the banner around so more people can participate! 🙂
~Kellyn Roth