CHARACTER
The Pushby Ashley Audrain

Mrs. Ellington

Mrs. Ellington

Quick Facts

  • Role: Neighbor and surrogate mother to Blythe Connor; a compassionate foil to Cecilia and the neglect that shapes Blythe’s childhood
  • First appearance: Days after Blythe’s mother abandons her, she knocks on the door and invites Blythe for Sunday roast
  • Home: Three doors down; a tidy, warm household with her husband and sons, Thomas and Daniel
  • Signature details: Tight, salon-fresh curls; an effortlessly “socially appropriate” presence; the playful “Ellington After-Dinner Talk Show”

Who They Are

Mrs. Ellington is the loving, competent mother figure Blythe longs for but never receives at home. Her house is where ordinary domestic rituals—dinners, play, gentle humor—become transformative, giving Blythe a working model of tenderness and routine. As the “good mother,” she is central to the book’s exploration of The Dark Side of Motherhood: she shows how love can heal, but also how even the best mothers carry private pain. In her, Blythe glimpses an escape from the generational damage that defines her lineage, a countercurrent to Nature vs. Nurture and Generational Trauma.

Personality & Traits

Stable, emotionally attuned, and delightfully playful, Mrs. Ellington models competence without cruelty and warmth without intrusion. She intuits what Blythe needs without making her feel pitied, and she turns ordinary moments—dinner, clean-up, small talk—into rituals of belonging. Even her appearance and manners signal order and care, a quiet rebuke to the chaos in Blythe’s home.

  • Nurturing and maternal: She invites Blythe in within seventy-two hours of the abandonment, hosts Sunday roasts, and includes her in games with Thomas and Daniel—making space at the table and in the family routine.
  • Perceptive kindness: She senses, without explanation, that Cecilia has left “for good,” and immediately fills the gap with practical care and gentle attention.
  • Playful and creative: Her “Ellington After-Dinner Talk Show,” performed with an oven mitt, turns dishwashing into delight, giving Blythe a living example of joy inside a family.
  • Empathetic protector: When Cecilia throws away Blythe’s homemade storybook, Mrs. Ellington quietly saves it and returns it, validating Blythe’s imagination and grief.
  • Social grace under pressure: At the tense school Mother’s Day tea, she remains gracious and poised, her competence only heightening Cecilia’s discomfort.
  • Orderly presence: Blythe notices her “tight curls…fresh from the salon,” a small but telling cue that this is a home where care—of self and others—is a daily practice.

Character Journey

Mrs. Ellington does not transform so much as she reveals depth. She begins as the emblem of reliable, everyday mothering: steady meals, cheerful routines, and consistent affection. Later, when she confides her miscarriage, the ideal softens into something more humane and complex. This revelation breaks Blythe’s fantasy of perfection without breaking the bond; instead, it strengthens it, teaching Blythe that maternal goodness and maternal sorrow often coexist. For Blythe, Mrs. Ellington becomes both the benchmark for what a mother can be and a reminder that even exemplary mothers carry losses they cannot fix.

Key Relationships

  • Blythe Connor: For Blythe, Mrs. Ellington is safety in the shape of a person. Her home becomes a sanctuary where Blythe learns how care looks and feels—regular meals, laughter in the kitchen, a grown-up who notices and remembers. This foundational relationship sets the standard Blythe later tries, and sometimes fails, to meet, feeding into the book’s broader meditation on the dark side of motherhood.

  • Cecilia: Their politeness masks a fundamental moral contrast. Mrs. Ellington’s unforced maternal competence exposes Cecilia’s inadequacy by comparison. At the Mother’s Day tea, her composure and kindness exacerbate Cecilia’s shame, prompting Cecilia’s early exit and crystallizing the gulf between them.

  • Thomas and Daniel Ellington: With her sons, she is engaged and present—playful at the sink, attentive at the table. Their warm, functional rapport provides Blythe with a living counterexample to her own household: this is what ordinary love looks like when it’s dependable.

Defining Moments

Mrs. Ellington’s impact accrues through small, consistent acts that, to a neglected child, feel monumental. Each moment offers Blythe a concrete lesson in what care means.

  • The Sunday roast invitation: She arrives “seventy-two hours” after Cecilia leaves and welcomes Blythe to dinner.

    • Why it matters: It replaces abandonment with ritual and tells Blythe, without words, “You belong at a table.”

  • The oven mitt “After-Dinner Talk Show”: She turns clean-up into a performance for her children and Blythe.

    • Why it matters: It models joy as a family language—play not as chaos, but as intimacy.

  • Returning the discarded storybook: After Cecilia throws it away, Mrs. Ellington retrieves and saves it, later giving it back to Blythe.

    • Why it matters: She recognizes Blythe’s inner life and protects it, teaching that a child’s imagination is worthy of care.

  • The miscarriage revelation: She tells Blythe she was pregnant with a girl who “didn’t make it.”

    • Why it matters: The confession humanizes her “perfect” image and imparts a sober truth: loving well doesn’t shield mothers from loss.

Essential Quotes

“Would you like to come for a nice Sunday roast at our house, Blythe?” This invitation is more than manners; it’s an intervention. Mrs. Ellington replaces absence with structure and extends belonging across the threshold, reshaping Blythe’s weekend—and worldview—around a family table.

“You’re such a thoughtful young woman.” Affirmation becomes care in practice. By naming Blythe’s thoughtfulness, Mrs. Ellington counters the silence and dismissal Blythe experiences at home, reinforcing a self-concept rooted in worth rather than deficiency.

“Miss Blythe,” she said in a funny high-pitched voice, her hand moving in the puppet. “We ask all of our celebrity guests here on the Ellington After-Dinner Talk Show a few questions about themselves.” The joke turns chores into ceremony and Blythe into a “celebrity guest,” granting her playful status within the family. Humor here isn’t distraction—it’s inclusion, demonstrating how joy can structure a child’s sense of being seen.

“Thought you might want this back now.” The quiet return of the storybook is a masterclass in discreet advocacy. Instead of confronting Cecilia, Mrs. Ellington centers Blythe’s feelings, restoring a cherished object and, with it, a piece of Blythe’s inner world.

“I was. I was pregnant. But the baby didn’t make it... She was a little girl. I would have had a daughter. Just like you.” This confession punctures the myth of effortless maternal happiness. By sharing her loss with a child, she entrusts Blythe with truth, deepening their bond and reframing “good motherhood” as loving presence in the shadow of grief.