Behind Closed Doors

Jack Angel, Grace Angel’s husband, is a 40-year-old, high-powered lawyer who defends battered women against the husbands who beat them and has never lost a case. He is also a sociopath who is able to turn on his powers of charm and politeness to gain friends and, ultimately, win over Grace. Below his polished veneer, he is a depraved man who gets pleasure from fear. This pleasure is so strong that he is not interested in sex. He reveals to Grace that he has even gone so far as to kill his own mother. This time, with Grace, he wants to keep his subject alive as long as possible. He turns his attention to Millie because she will have the most pure reaction to sensory deprivation.

Jack views himself as being extremely clever, and likely thinks of himself as the smartest person on the planet. He has been able to keep his secret for his entire life, pinning his father for the murder of his mother, and only satisfying his desires on his trips to Thailand. Jack does succeed in fooling and manipulating Grace, and for much of the story, he gets his kicks by watching her try to escape and then punishing her by preventing her from seeing Millie, along with trips to the basement room and starvation. When he finally lets his guard down after losing his first case, there proves to be a chink in his armor: he does need a bit of human contact and someone to commiserate with. This allows Grace to place sleeping pills in his drink and ultimately launch her escape. Jack dies experiencing his own methods of fear and suffering.

Millie is Grace Angel’s 18-year-old sister. She has Down Syndrome, which makes her free from social constriction. She loves taking trips to Regent’s Park and going out to lunch with Grace. When her and Grace’s parents proved to be less than capable of taking care of Millie, Grace stepped in and is like a sister and a mother to her. Millie starts Behind Closed Doors as a happy character, but is soon thrust into the middle of Grace’s poor decision to marry Jack.

When Jack pushes her down the stairs at the wedding, Millie immediately becomes suspicious. She listens to Grace when she warns Millie that saying anything in front of Jack would be detrimental to both of them. Millie’s love of Agatha Christie mysteries and her possible lack of understanding of what death actually means give her the bravery and gall to come up with the clever idea of pretending to need sleeping pills and then hoarding them so that Grace can use them on Jack. She is able to use her innocence and her condition to her advantage, and ends up being the catalyst for saving herself and her sister.

Esther is Jack and Grace’s new friend. Jack met her husband, Rufus, on a golf outing. When Esther and Rufus come to the Angels’ dinner party, Esther immediately picks up on the fact that something is amiss. She tries to investigate by asking questions to see whether Jack and Grace’s life is really perfect. When she gets stonewalled, she doesn’t stop trying. She is eventually able to get her phone number to Grace, which Grace views as a possible clue that Esther suspects something. Indeed, Esther continues to pick up on small hints, trying to convince Jack to let her visit the house. Though that doesn’t work, she eventually comes to Grace’s rescue when she needs a ride to the airport after locking Jack in the basement. Though Grace cannot let on what happens, when Grace returns from Thailand after Jack has been found dead, she comes to Grace’s aid, helping her figure out what she will say to the police so that there will not be a trial and so that Grace can get on with her life. Esther turns out to be a true friend.

Janice is Millie’s aid at the expensive private school that Millie attends. Janice spends most of each day with Millie and would do anything for her. She is a caring and thoughtful woman, though she accepts Jack’s lies and does not pick up on Grace’s situation, even when Grace is unable to see Millie for weeks on end. However, Janice does eventually get irritated that she hasn’t had any time off to see her own family. Once she gets a break, she is placated. She enjoys seeing the house with Millie and the show that Jack puts on for Millie’s birthday. Truly devoted to Millie, Janice agrees to come back and visit often. 

Adam is Jack’s coworker at the firm. He is a supportive colleague and friend who has known Jack for many years. Jack has always been excellent at work and an accomplished host, and Adam has no reason to suspect that anything is amiss. When Grace calls Adam from Thailand while Jack is supposedly missing, Adam immediately comes to her aid. He is the one who gets the police to go to the house, where Jack is found dead. Though Adam is confused that Jack would commit suicide, he is convinced that Jack’s first loss in court is what drove Jack to suicide.

Diane is Adam’s wife, and along with Adam is one of Jack’s oldest friends. Plump and dark-haired, she is jealous of Grace’s good looks, slim frame, and seemingly perfect life. Though she wants to be thinner, Diane can’t help but eat a lot at every occasion. Grace enjoys this because it helps her gain more sustenance when they eat out. Though she constantly complains about balancing her full-time job with raising her children, Diane wonders how Grace isn’t bored out of her mind sitting at home all day. Though she is always coming from a place of kindness, Diane can’t help but let her jealousy get the best of her, which leads to her making Grace feel insecure.

Mrs. Goodrich is the director of the school that Millie attends. Though throughout Behind Closed Doors she is mostly out of sight, she is often spoken of as the arbiter of discipline and the main decision-maker for Millie’s school career. When Millie is having trouble sleeping, Grace and Jack meet with Mrs. Goodrich, who suggests that Millie take sleeping pills. When Grace is able to get a birthday party for Millie, one of her pieces of reasoning is that Janice will tell Mrs. Goodrich what a great home Millie will have, which will put her at ease. Jack eats this up. 

Rufus is Esther’s husband. He is a musician who supports Esther and the children. He is a good-natured person who appears infrequently the novel.

Grace and Millie’s parents never wanted children, and have, perhaps unintentionally, taken that out on Grace. Grace never felt that warmth that other children get from their parents. Then, when Grace is a pre-teen and Mrs. Harrington accidently becomes pregnant, Grace convinces her that she should go through an at-risk pregnancy. When Millie is born with Down Syndrome, Grace’s parents resent her. Grace steps in to help take care of Millie, and her parents begin to recede from the picture, paying for Millie until they cannot afford it anymore. Then Grace gets a job to help. The parents jump at the chance to move back to New Zealand, and Jack manipulates them into going sooner. All they see is that their daughters are going to be taken care of by a rich, handsome man and that they are off the hook.

Mr. Ho is the hotel manager at the hotel in Thailand that Jack and Grace frequent. He is a hardworking manager; in fact, Grace notes he never seems to not be working. Jack has been a long-time customer, and when he insinuates that Grace is off her meds, Mr. Ho believes him. However, when Grace is alone in Thailand and needs his help, he is accommodating and worried for her. Above all, Mr. Ho is a professional at all times.

Kiko is the concierge that originally helps Grace the first time Grace is in Thailand. Though she seems accommodating at first, she defers to Mr. Ho, who believes Jack. Kiko is asked to escort Grace back upstairs and help her get her things, and may be sympathetic, but as soon as Grace is in the bathroom, she is likely easily convinced by Jack to go back to her post. A warm and helpful employee, Kiko is too junior to take action. When Grace and Jack go back to the hotel on another trip, Kiko is not there.