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The Pastor (John Sheppard)
Luke Sheppard’s mother, and John Sheppard’s wife. Latrice Sheppard has different colored eyes (one brown and one blue), which Bennett claims enables Latrice to look at a woman and know whether or not she has been physically abused. When Mrs. Sheppard tells Aubrey about this power over a cup of tea in Upper Room one day, the young woman grows nervous that Latrice can intuit her history as a rape victim and worries that her past is “written on her skin.” Despite this nervousness, though, Aubrey and Mrs. Sheppard have a close relationship. In fact, Latrice is so kind to Aubrey that Nadia envies their bond, wanting badly for Mrs. Sheppard to treat her with the same kindness. Unfortunately for Nadia, though, Latrice has considered Nadia to be a reckless seductress ever since she caught Nadia kissing a boy behind the church years ago. The tension between Nadia and the first lady is only exacerbated by the fact that Latrice is the one who gives Luke the money to pay for Nadia’s abortion. Latrice reveals this to Nadia years later, telling the young woman to leave her son alone. In this way, the bad blood between Latrice and Nadia continues throughout the novel, as the first lady embodies the shame and disapproval Nadia is faced with for her abortion and her relationship with Luke.
The First Lady (Latrice Sheppard) Quotes in The Mothers
The The Mothers quotes below are all either spoken by The First Lady (Latrice Sheppard) or refer to The First Lady (Latrice Sheppard). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter Four
Quotes
Not ghost eyes, but she had been gifted with a second sight nonetheless: she could look at a girl and tell if she’d been hit before. Forget bruises and scars—hit women learned to hide or explain those away. No need for stories about running into doorknobs or tripping down stairs—all she needed to do was lock her odd eyes onto theirs and she knew a woman surprised or outraged by pain from a woman who’d learned to expect it. She saw past flawless skin to diamond-shaped iron burns, gashes from golden belt buckles, necks nicked by steak knives, lips split by class rings, faces blooming purple and deep blue. She’d told Aubrey this the third time she’d invited her for tea, and after, Aubrey had stared into the mirror, wondering what else the first lady saw. Was her entire past written on her skin?
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Explanation and Analysis:
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The First Lady (Latrice Sheppard) Quotes in The Mothers
The The Mothers quotes below are all either spoken by The First Lady (Latrice Sheppard) or refer to The First Lady (Latrice Sheppard). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter Four
Quotes
Not ghost eyes, but she had been gifted with a second sight nonetheless: she could look at a girl and tell if she’d been hit before. Forget bruises and scars—hit women learned to hide or explain those away. No need for stories about running into doorknobs or tripping down stairs—all she needed to do was lock her odd eyes onto theirs and she knew a woman surprised or outraged by pain from a woman who’d learned to expect it. She saw past flawless skin to diamond-shaped iron burns, gashes from golden belt buckles, necks nicked by steak knives, lips split by class rings, faces blooming purple and deep blue. She’d told Aubrey this the third time she’d invited her for tea, and after, Aubrey had stared into the mirror, wondering what else the first lady saw. Was her entire past written on her skin?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
