her story. The theme of death is mentioned by Margaret as something essential to a good book; that is, an old novel. "I read old novels. The reason is simple: I prefer proper endings. Marriages and death..."part One, Beginnings. Identity This is the main theme of the book, with the key character Margaret feels like half a person; she discovers that her twin has died and she learns she was conjoined from the scar on her side confirmed by her father. Throughout the book, her character struggles with the feeling that something is outside of her that was once a part of her, and that because that part no longer lives, she can’t be a whole person. Loss This is also a recurring theme in the book that is closely linked to identity, as it was the loss of Margaret’s twin that first led her to question her identity and who she was. Loss recurs in Vida Winter's story of the twins, with Isabelle departing for a mental asylum, Charlie committing suicide, Hester Barrow disappearing, and John-the-dig and Missus dying. Finally, at the end of the book, Vida Winter, known as the ghost of Angelfield House, loses her most beloved person, the twin thought to be Emmeline her half sister. Reconciliation Is a theme that was present in the last part of the book, when Margaret meets her missing half, her twin, and feels complete. Vida Winter was also re-united with her half sister in death at the end of the book. Jane Eyre Jane Eyre is frequently mentioned in the novel. Lea speculates about the connections between that novel and the lives of the Marches. Hester, like Jane was a governess at a manor, employed by a wealthy master. Hester, like Jane, is the dominant female. But unlike Jane, Hester does not fall in love with the master of the house- Charlie. Charlie was not Edward Rochester and had never in the book met Hester. "Charlie was less directly influenced. He kept out of her way and that suited both of them. She had no desire to do anything but her job, and her job was us. Our minds, our bodies, and our souls, yes, but our guardian was outside her jurisdiction, and so she left him alone. She was no Jane Eyre and he was no Mr Rochester." — p. 175 Jane Eyre is the first title to