Hidden Pictures

Note: Because Teddy lives as a boy for most of the novel and thinks of himself as a boy for most of the novel, the pronoun “he” is used to describe Teddy during the events in which he is living as a boy. During the Epilogue, once Teddy understands herself as Flora, the pronoun “she” is used.

For most of the novel, Teddy presents as the five-year-old boy that Ted and Caroline Maxwell hire Mallory to watch for the summer. At the age of two, Teddy was Flora Baroth, the daughter of Margit Baroth. Caroline kills Flora’s mother and steals Flora with Ted’s help. To evade capture, Caroline transforms Flora into Teddy and raises her as a boy. Caroline claims that Teddy has no memory of the abduction, but Flora’s memory of the events is left in question.

Teddy is curious, charming, and warm. He delights in games of imagination like the Enchanted Forest and loves playing the characters in The Wizard of Oz when he swims with Mallory. His creativity inspires her and serves as a nice counterpoint to Caroline, who claims that her lack of creativity is a horrible thing. Teddy also has some quirks that Mallory finds endearing, if confusing. For instance, Teddy only wants to wear one shirt every day, and he has multiple copies of the same shirt. These apparent eccentricities hint at subconscious layers of confusion, which are understandable once the truth about Teddy’s history is revealed.

Teddy is generous and brave but can be overwhelmed by the unfair intensity that the adults place him in. During a breakdown, Mallory realizes that it is

all too much for Teddy because he explodes into tears, and [she] pull[s] him into [her] arms and his body is soft and loose again; he feels like a regular boy again. [She] realize[s] [she’s] asking him to explain something he doesn’t understand. [She’s] asking him to explain the impossible (166).

At the end of the novel, Flora—having left Teddy behind—may have the best chance of making a full recovery given how young she is.

Caroline Maxwell is the novel’s primary antagonist. She is a doctor for the Veteran’s Association and, at first, appears to be Mallory’s only advocate in the Maxwell home. Caroline is intelligent and ambitious and, for most of the novel, appears to be a devoted mother and wife. However, she is cunning, cruel, and a murderer. She takes Teddy—Flora—away from her mother and kills Mitzi, pressuring Ted into helping her. She justifies her worst impulses under the guise of a desire for Teddy’s well-being.

Caroline’s narrative arc operates in reverse to Mallory’s. She experiences a moral devolution, rather than an evolution. Most of her actions and behaviors are acts of pre-emptive self-defense, both to protect herself from discovery and to evade the vengeful ghost who communicates through the drawings.

One of Caroline’s major characteristics is her inability to take responsibility for her actions. She even claims that Margit’s murder was justifiable given how inattentive and undeserving she was to Flora. She is competent at her profession, but she takes an uncharitable view of herself in unexpected ways. For instance, she tells Mallory, “I have this horrible realization that I am just not a very creative person. Isn’t that an awful thing to discover about yourself?” (330). She is insecure enough that Mallory—who largely considers herself a failure—thinks, “I’ve been so busy admiring Caroline, I’ve never stopped to think that she might be envious of me” (110). Caroline’s remark about creativity is more nuanced than it appears at first. Caroline knows that Teddy’s mother was creative. She has no access or understanding of the artistic bond that Margit uses to reach her child. Teddy’s creativity is a constant reminder of the fact that he was never Caroline’s to begin with.

Ted is Caroline’s husband. At first, it appears that he will be the dissenting factor in rejecting Mallory’s application to be their nanny. Ted is deceptive. He projects confidence, culture, and the demeanor of a man who expects women to welcome his advances. Ted is disdainful of religion and faith and aggressively suspicious about Mallory’s past. He chooses reason in The Tension Between Faith, Fantasy, and Science to protect himself from the guilt he experiences in his part in Margit’s murder.

Ted frequently casts himself in the role of protector. During the interview, he tries to discourage her psychologically by showing her the resumes of the other, better applicants. Once hired, he often assures Mallory that he won’t let anything happen to her. This gives a clue to the guilt and shame Ted experiences because of his complicity in Margit’s death and Flora’s abduction. He has no way to protect Mallory from anyone except Caroline, and he fails at that as well. Ted has done so much damage and has such a gulf between the life he wanted and the life he has that his fantasy becomes saving someone else from his wife and the ghost of the woman his wife killed. While telling himself this story, he also ignores the fact that he was willing to hire Mallory to sacrifice her in the hopes that Anya would fixate on her.

Caroline claims that Ted is experiencing a clichéd mid-life crisis, which is borne out by his hapless pursuit of Mallory. He is naïve, condescending, and insecure. He tells Mallory that she only likes Spring Brook because her own world is so small: “You’re stuck in this shithole and there’s a whole big world out there…You haven’t been anywhere else” (213). In addition to aiding Caroline in her crimes, Ted is also deceptive and unsure about his work, his happiness, and his role in Teddy’s life. Over the course of the novel, he transforms from an impressive, competent businessman and father into a wretched, deceitful aider and abettor whose own wife kills him.

Mitzi is the Maxwells’ next-door neighbor. She is not as well developed as some of the other characters, but she serves some specific narrative functions. In terms of her acceptance of the spiritual realm, Mitzi is almost a caricature of open-mindedness, which initially contrasts with the Maxwells’ projected, aggressive skepticism. However, while Mitzi may view herself as enlightened, she has many ugly character traits. When she meets Mallory, she says she shouldn’t sit by the pool “with everything on display” while the Latino landscapers are working (60). Her casual racism and venom extend to her gossip about the Maxwells.

Mitzi also provides important pieces of exposition, such as when she tells Mallory about Annie Barrett and the cottage’s morbid history. She is also Mallory’s most direct conduit to the spirit world in terms of proactivity and ability. Her possession and knowledge of the spirit board help them get the message that turns out to be in the Hungarian language. Mitzi’s death symbolizes the havoc that Caroline’s ruthlessness, combined with the weakness and insecurity of Ted, can wreak on those around them.

Russell is Mallory’s sponsor. He is also her connection to the job with the Maxwells. Russell represents the best parts of any recovery program. He is a recovering addict, a man in his sixties who killed someone with his car while under the influence of meth, which led to a five-year prison stint. However, Russell is positive, tries to live a good life, and is committed to everyone working in recovery. He functions as an advisor and elder statesman for Mallory, providing advice and perspective that are appropriate and useful given their common bond of tragedy, addiction, and recovery. During her moments of greatest distress, Mallory often recalls one of Russell’s sayings: “He says we don’t know how much our bodies can endure until we make cruel demands of them” (63).