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Maggie Peace is Billy Peace’s older sister, Corwin Peace’s mother, and John Wildstrand’s lover; she is also a descendant of Cuthbert Peace. Despite John’s marriage to Neve Harp, Maggie and John are in love, having a tender affair that is always underscored by John’s “sentimental” sadness “about what his grandfather had done to a member of her family long ago.” After John’s plan to provide for baby Corwin ends in Billy having to flee the area (and join the army), Maggie turns against John, blaming him for Billy’s dangerous plight. In passing, Judge Coutts later mentions that after the overlapping traumas of Maggie’s life, namely John’s arrest and Billy’s turn to religious extremism, Maggie started becoming more dependent on alcohol.
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Maggie Peace Character Timeline in The Plague of Doves
The timeline below shows where the character Maggie Peace appears in The Plague of Doves. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
10. Come In
...National Bank of Pluto, is married to Neve Harp—but he is having an affair with Maggie Peace. One day, John opens his door to find Billy Peace, Maggie’s younger brother, pointing...
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First, Billy demands $10,000, insisting that John provide for his baby, which Maggie is soon to bear. This sum seems paltry to John, who suggests Billy will need...
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...John reflects on the cozy, unsatisfying life he leads with Neve, and he acknowledges that Maggie would probably not be with him if it weren’t for his money.
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...ask for the $50,000 as ransom money. Billy hesitates but eventually agrees, promising John that Maggie will never find out about the plan. John gazes at Billy with pity, noticing how...
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...if Neve had behaved like this earlier, maybe he would never have started up with Maggie—but now, it is too late, and he feels only despair at Neve’s advances.
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...has been endowed with Harp money. When the old man drifts off, John thinks about Maggie: the baby will be born in four months, and though he rarely gets to see...
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...avoid being found out, Billy drops out of technical college and joins the army, devastating Maggie. Impulsively, John ends his marriage, moving in with Maggie—even though, since Billy left, Maggie will...
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...of “god” Neve had suspected him to be. John also realizes that Billy has told Maggie about the kidnapping, which is why she now ignores John. Billy writes to Maggie from...
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