2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #1 discussion

Elizabeth Decker, Sarah’s mother, gets pretty involved in the investigation. What did you think about how she managed? What is she thinking about Frank at this stage?

Elizabeth seems out of character in this story. Is she trying to learn how her daughter actually spends her days outside the upper class life she was brought up in? I think she is showing some respect for Frank, who is evolving himself because of Sarah's influence.

I agree that she ended up respecting Frank. She's clearly a smart woman but, as was expected from the women of her time, she was never allowed to do anything productive with that intelligence. How bored she must've been filling her days with idle visits and gossip. This case was a break in the monotony for her. I'm not surprised she took the chance to get involved.

Elizabeth is very sharp and has a keen mind. She’s managed to convince her husband she’s an obedient wife while utterly controlling him without him knowing. She got caught up in the investigation as it was an opportunity to use her brain.

I thought the scenes where she visited Katya, Mikhail (Misha) and the Chinese restaurant were hilarious. And her first ride on the El was priceless.

Yes, there were some good comedic moments with her and shows her less serious side.

Charlene wrote: "Elizabeth seems out of character in this story. Is she trying to learn how her daughter actually spends her days outside the upper class life she was brought up in? I think she is showing some resp..."

I think Sarah is her mother’s daughter. Elizabeth seems to be envious of her participation in these investigations.

I enjoyed her character very much in this book and it showed where Sarah gets her character from..

I totally loved the scenes with Elizabeth visiting the tenement in the Lower East Side, then eating in the Chinese restaurant. I agree that she is smart and was probably enjoying herself. She also got to meet Malloy and learn a little about him.

I agree I loved her scenes. She adapted surprisingly quickly to the new environment and I'm glad she got to see first-hand a bit of Sarah's life.

She did make a rather quick transition. I think she was oddly fascinated.

These scenes provided some great insight into Elizabeth's character. At first, she was suspicious of Frank and his intentions, but by the end she warmed up to him. I laughed at how surprised she was by Frank's "civilized" manners.

With regard to her insinuating herself into the case, I think she saw it as an opportunity to learn more about her daughter's life now.