Chapters 1 and 2 of Part III

Well, this is interesting. We get to hear from Ariah's second son, Royall. I'm enjoying seeing The Family from a different perspective.

It was interesting that Royall visited the cemetary. Was he subconciously looking for his father, looking for answers?

Royall certainly got a wake up call from The Woman in Black. He had let his life slide down the path of least resistance. Ariah's favorite child, he let her guide his life. Marrying the girl she liked, working the unambitious job Ariah convinced him to take.

I think Royall finally grew up, and Ariah couldn't stand it. When he left home, he left a lot behind. His innocence, his mother. When he came back and found all his stuff had been thrown out, how alone he must have felt.

He was determined to find out about his father, his past. After he found out he ended up back in the cemetary. Fascinated by the Woman in Black. Like father, like son.

Does anyone think that the Woman in Black is a spirit?

Slowly Ariah's children are moving away from her. It will be interesting to see which one will be able to truly overcome her control.

I didn't think the Woman in Black was a spirit. She may have been since she appeared in the cemetary, but her physicality was so real to Royall, I believe it was really her and not a spirit.

Smiley,
I'm re-reading the Woman in Black chapter. Something about it just doesn't sit well with me. Why would she be there in the flesh again after so many years? Elsewhere in the book it is said that Nina has moved and can't be found. Something strange going on here.

The 'Woman in Black' could be real or a spirit, in any case, someone that Royall needed at that moment in his life perhaps, a crucial moment as he searches in the cemetary for some meaning from his past and on the eve of his wedding to a woman he doesn't love .. but I think Nina's real significance is as a symbol .. as "Woman in Black" (capitalized) she surely symbolizes mourning, perhaps a mourning widow .. her 'real life' circumstances don't matter, what matters is what she stands for (just an idea, I don't know if this makes any sense) ...

Giselle,
I agree. I see her as more of a symbol at this point than corporeal.

I was confused by her appearance as well, especially when she does not appear again. The spirit idea did not occur to me, but it does have merrit. Her appearance and the encounter she has with Royall does do him a lot of good, as he is able to stop himself from entering into a marriage that is obviously a mistake. This does seem to be a contradiction in a way: Woman in Black seem ominous, rather than enlightening. The triangle here, between Royall, his father, and Nina also makes it feel like there is something more in there encounter.