Isobel Dunstable
Who they are
River Cartwright’s mother and David Cartwright’s daughter, known in Joe Country as Isobel Cartwright. She lives in Brighton and has not spoken to her father in years. C01 keeps her off the page entirely: she is the woman River considers ringing while his grandfather dies, and decides not to call.
She comes to St Leonard’s by taxi hired on the south coast, carrying a single lily, and arrives forty-five minutes early because River told her eleven sharp for a quarter-past service — a small revenge he admits to. She teases him about his size, his suit and his wage bracket, mistakes Diana Taverner for a romantic interest, and invites him to confide in her.
What the book gives of her history comes through River: he remembers that Frank Harkness took her heart and traded it to David Cartwright for favours. The chapter page presents that as River’s recollection; it does not stage whatever passed between the three of them.
What they want
Nothing she states. She wants the day got through with some style, and her son’s confidence, which she asks for by teasing him. The one act on the page that is wholly hers is the lily laid on Rose’s headstone, with the statement that it is for Rose — whether that is a claim on her mother or a refusal to mourn her father is left to the reader.
Book 6 — Joe Country
- C01 — Named as River’s mother, née Cartwright, who has not spoken to her father in years; River considers ringing her as the O.B. dies and decides against it.
- C03 — Arrives at the chapel by taxi from Brighton with a single lily, early because River gave her the wrong time; complains that his size is ageing him.
- C03 — Lays the lily on Rose’s grave and says it was for Rose; River lies to her that there had been glimpses of his grandfather to the end.
- C03 — Mistakes Taverner for a romantic interest, criticises River’s suit and his wage bracket and invites him to confide; he tells her he is not gay. She recognises Jackson Lamb at once.
- C03 — When River vaults the grave after Harkness, Isobel stands unmoved while the mourners scatter.
Tells
One lily, and it is for Rose. Teasing is the only intimacy she can offer her son, and it is relentless; the chapter’s last word on her in the graveyard is that she stood unmoved, which is either composure or a verdict on her father.
Open questions
What the estrangement from David Cartwright was about, and whether she knew Harkness would be at the funeral. C03 gives her no reaction to Harkness at all, and no exchange with Lamb beyond recognition.