Thalia Morgan
Thalia wants to be a writer. Or rather, she's already a writer, but she wants to be well-known, respected, appreciated. But her past weighs her down, and her stories aren't coming out right. When her family volunteers her to stay in her great-aunt's house while they take her on a rest cure, Thalia figures at least she'll have regular meals.
Family background
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In the course of the book, Thalia explains the particularly needless death of her older brother in the War, and of deaths that followed after it, and the impact it had on her. Her parents don't make space for her grief, or for the complicated situations she's had to navigate.
Mistress of Birds
Thalia lives with PTSD (what we'd now call PTSD, and which no one has ever particularly acknowledged in her life). In the course of Mistress of Birds, she comes to grips with some of it, partly thanks to Adam Walton's understanding and shared experience of it.
(Click on the title above to learn more about Thalia's role in that book.)