52 pages • 1 hour read
Alexandra AndrewsWho Is Maud Dixon?
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Florence Darrow
Florence Darrow is the novel’s protagonist. She is a blond 26-year-old woman who moves to New York City from Florida to become a novelist. Florence gets a job at Forrester Books as an editorial assistant, hoping that she can work her way up in the company and eventually publish her work.
Florence is a timid and insecure woman, but she believes that she is destined for greatness because her mother, Vera, has told her this since she was a child. Although Florence’s dream is to be a novelist, she experiences writer’s block for most of the novel. She believes this is because she does not have enough life experience, and she finds herself constantly comparing her work to other people’s writing. Rather than focusing on her writing technique, Florence becomes obsessed with her own insecurity and lack of advantages in the publishing world. Florence becomes Helen’s assistant after Forrester fires her for extorting Simon and stalking his family. Florence enjoys living in the countryside with Helen because she can finally relax, free from the pressures of society.
Florence’s internal conflict stems from her desperation to reinvent herself. Florence has such low self-esteem at the beginning of the novel that she copies the way that other people act or dress. When she moves in with Helen, she feels both intimidated and attracted to her, so she copies her style and interests, hoping that this will make her seem more interesting. While in Morocco with Helen, she survives a car accident that she believes has killed Helen, and she takes on Helen’s identity. Florence’s decision to steal Helen’s identity reveals how Florence will do anything to achieve success. Despite Florence’s shyness, she becomes Helen because she believes that she deserves greatness, and she feels afraid that her time to become a famous writer is running out. When Helen reappears, Florence eventually realizes that Helen is a threat to the life she is planning for herself.
Florence does not fully commit to her idea of becoming Helen until she pushes Helen over the railing toward the novel’s end, which signifies how Florence must kill Helen to become her. Although Florence justifies killing Helen and, later, Greta because of what she went through in Morocco, her ease with murder and crime reveals how her obsession with success and ambition had already corrupted her. The novel ends with Florence calling an agency, announcing that she is Maud Dixon and has a new manuscript.
Helen Wilcox
Helen Wilcox is the novel’s antagonist. She is a blond 32-year-old woman who writes the novel Mississippi Foxtrot under the pseudonym Maud Dixon. Helen continually bends the truth because she wants to protect her identity and the crimes of her past. Although Helen appears to mentor Florence, she hires Florence to be her assistant for the sole purpose of taking her to Morocco to murder her and steal her identity. Although Helen thinks that Florence is a pathetic person, she underestimates Florence’s ambition, which eventually leads to Helen’s death.
Although Helen tells everyone that Mississippi Foxtrot is a work of fiction, Florence learns that it is nonfiction when Helen confesses that it was she who murdered Ellis, not Jenny. However, Helen’s past soon catches up with her when Jenny returns to demand compensation for how Helen ruined her life and profited from it. Helen realizes that she must craft a new identity after she murders Jenny because she knows it is only a matter of time before the police catch up with her. Although Helen appears to be an eccentric writer, Florence learns by the end of the novel that Helen is a cold-blooded killer. Helen’s individualistic attitude allows her to ignore the feelings of other people and only act on what is best for her.
Helen believes that she is a great novelist and that her actions can be excused because they allow her to create great art. Despite writing Mississippi Foxtrot, Helen knows that she cannot write fiction; instead, she creates exciting and horrifying adventures in her life and then writes them into a novel form. This is why Helen cannot write a sequel to Mississippi Foxtrot but instead decides to write about her plan to murder Florence and steal her identity.
Helen finds nothing wrong with using people because her elitist view makes her believe that she is above other people. Helen’s arrogance becomes her downfall because she taunts Florence for her weakness without realizing that Florence wants to kill her. Although Helen does not teach Florence how to write, she does teach Florence how to justify her crimes for the sake of preserving her career.
Greta Frost
Greta Frost is Helen’s literary agent. She is a 60-year-old woman. Greta is the only person besides Florence who knows that Helen’s pen name is Maud Dixon. Although Greta has a close relationship with Helen as her agent, she does not know the extent of Helen’s crimes. Greta is ambitious and career-focused, which is why she enlists Florence’s help to provide information about Helen’s new book. Greta offers to help publish Florence’s work in exchange for her help, which highlights how everyone in the novel is out for their own gain.
Greta calls Florence during her time in Morocco to try to glean information about the trip. Florence finds Greta’s calls annoying because they remind her of her old identity as Florence, and that she is living a lie by pretending to be Helen. Greta travels to Morocco because she is worried about Helen’s state of mind. Despite Greta’s compassion, her main goal centers around Helen’s second manuscript. When Florence meets Greta in her hotel in Morocco, Greta is horrified to learn about Helen’s crimes, but she is even more excited to learn that Florence has kept Helen’s manuscript safe. Greta’s obsession with the wealth and fame that the manuscript will give her leads to her undoing because she refuses to let Florence finish the manuscript.
Greta also underestimates Florence and does not notice Florence’s transformation, so she believes that she can continue to tell Florence what to do. In response, Florence drugs and murders Greta to ensure that she can become Maud Dixon. To protect herself, Florence makes it appear as if Greta has a substance misuse disorder so that no one will suspect foul play. Despite murdering Greta, Florence does not feel guilty about the deed but instead blames Greta for not allowing her the chance to finish the manuscript.
Vera Darrow
Vera Darrow is Florence’s mother. She is a flat and static character. Vera enjoys living in Florida and does not understand Florence’s desire to move to New York City. Vera wants Florence to be successful, but she puts unwanted pressure on her daughter.
Vera raised Florence as a single mother in Gainesville, Florida. Instead of focusing on Florence’s dreams or making sure that her daughter finds happiness, Vera wants Florence to have financial stability and settle down. Vera has a strong faith in God, which fuels her belief that Florence is destined for greatness. Even though Florence does not have faith in God, she chooses to believe Vera about her fate, which puts even more pressure on her when she struggles to become a novelist in New York City.
Florence finds Vera’s constant pressure overwhelming, which is why she pulls away from a close relationship with her. Although Vera loves Florence, Florence believes that Vera does not understand her, so she finds it difficult to confide in her mother about the things that bother her. However, Florence does not cut herself off from Vera until Helen suggests that Vera is the reason why she has writer’s block. Helen uses Florence’s obsession with becoming a novelist and her fears of never making anything of herself to isolate her from Vera so that Vera will never notice that Florence is missing.
Although Florence knows that she will never become close with Vera, she reconciles with her when she returns from Morocco as an insurance policy. Florence uses Vera as a disposable object in the same way that she rids herself of Greta and Helen. Florence knows that it is important to connect with other people, unlike Helen, because she knows that Vera will always report if she goes missing.
