# Germaine — The Eight Strokes of the Clock character guide

> Germaine in The Eight Strokes of the Clock by Maurice Leblanc.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Germaine Astaing, Astaing

**First appearance:** 0006-v-th-r-se-and-germaine

## Snapshot

Germaine Astaing is a woman whose face or name has been borrowed by someone else, and who must reclaim both before the truth can be told.

## Who they are

Germaine Astaing belongs to the cycle's recurring nightmare: a person whose identity has been assumed by another, so that her own life becomes evidence in a case she never chose. Mistaken identity is not a misunderstanding here but a weapon, and Germaine is both its target and, potentially, its unraveling. She matters because proving who she is forces Rénine to prove what actually happened, and the two proofs cannot be separated.

## Relationships

### [Hortense Daniel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eight_strokes_of_the_clock_se/characters/hortense_daniel)

_friendship_

Germaine and Hortense are close friends, with Germaine frequently involved in Hortense's personal affairs.

### [Hortense Daniel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eight_strokes_of_the_clock_se/characters/hortense_daniel)

_friendship_

Germaine and Hortense are close friends, with Germaine frequently involved in Hortense's personal affairs.

## In the story

### [V: Thérèse and Germaine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eight_strokes_of_the_clock_se/chapters/v-th-r-se-and-germaine)

Sister of Frédéric Astaing, revealed as the instigator of the murder plot; steals letters from the pocketbook.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eight_strokes_of_the_clock_se/characters/germaine
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eight_strokes_of_the_clock_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eight_strokes_of_the_clock_se/characters