Now It Can Be Told · Character

Madame Carpentier

A French woman who hosts the narrator.

minor

Also known as Madame, you

First appearance: i

Madame Carpentier shows up with force in XI. The page is where that presence becomes real.

An old lady who embraces a young Guardsman like a long-lost son upon his return from the trenches.

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In XI: An old lady who embraces a young Guardsman like a long-lost son upon his return from the trenches. Later, in The Heart of a City: The cash-desk lady sits in the dining-room, her face waxen pale, working accounts…

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See Madame Carpentier in i

Character Web

18 connections

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Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Key military and civilian figures
Protagonist

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This is the story's dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of anticipation a…

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In the story

Madame Carpentier appears across 7 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

XI
An old lady who embraces a young Guardsman like a long-lost son upon his return from the trenches.
The Heart of a City
The cash-desk lady sits in the dining-room, her face waxen pale, working accounts as if the last day has come.
The Street of the Three Pebbles
Alsatian lady with vivid memories of 1870; she hates Germans and recounts the German entry into Amiens in August 1914, speaking frankly to German officers.
VII
Mme. de la Rochefoucauld is the owner of the house where the narrator is billeted, though she lives elsewhere.
VIII
The woman behind the counter, once a well-to-do young woman from Lille, now aged and worn by the war and her husband's abandonment.
XVI
Madame from the cash-desk sits in the dining-room, maintaining composure despite the crisis, working on accounts.
VI
Madame plays the piano at the Hôtel du Sauvage and invites the Canadian boy to play again.

Chapter companion notes

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See Madame Carpentier in i

See Madame Carpentier in XI