47 pages • 1 hour read
Stone Maidens
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Symbols & Motifs
Pinkie Finger
Throughout Stone Maidens, Prusik experiences pain in her pinkie finger as a result of making tight fists. This pinkie pain appears as a recurring motif that contributes to the theme The Lasting Effects of Traumatic Events. The novel’s introduction to Prusik describes “an itchy panic [that takes] hold of her” while studying photos of a victim’s mutilated abdomen, which closely mirrors her own traumatic injury (20). This memory causes Prusik to “tighten her right fist, squeezing her pinkie against her palm,” hurting it badly (21). She repeats this tic throughout the novel, signaling similarities between her current case and her own past traumatic experiences. Richards describes how Prusik’s “pinkie pulsed with pain” at one crime scene, while photos of another cause her to “clench her right fist, burying the pinkie nail into her heavily callused palm” (58, 96). Richards notes that the tic is often unintentional and includes multiple scenes in which Prusik “[hasn’t] realized” she’s clenching her fist until she “notice[s] the throbbing in her pinkie” (58, 127, 270). These passages indicate that Prusik’s trauma often manifests physically, with negative results for her body.
The motif of pinkie pain is also connected to Prusik’s struggles to be taken seriously at work, positioning the gender discrimination she experiences professionally as its own kind of trauma. For example, Howard’s attempts to circumvent her authority trigger the tic. During the conversation, “quite out of Howard’s sight, Prusik ball[s] her fist and flexe[s] her pinkie hard” (76). This pattern is repeated when Howard ignores her theories about the crime: “reflexively, she tighten[s] her fist in her lap, bearing down on her pinkie” (106). Howard’s condescension and interference in her career—symbolic of workplace misogyny as a whole—inspire a similar physical reaction as the traumatic memories of her attack in Papua New Guinea.
Thorns
Invasive thornbushes called multiflora appear throughout Stone Maidens as a symbol of the dangerous connection between David Claremont and his murderous twin Donald Holmquist. Multiflora seeds are found on the body of Betsy Ross, leading Prusik to theorize that her murderer works on farms. Throughout the novel, depictions of the multiflora plant emphasize its aggressive, constricting nature. A botanist at the Chicago Museum of Natural History describes the plant as a “sticky wicket,” warning Prusik that it is impossible to “go wandering into it willy-nilly without getting horrifically entangled” (124). She adds that “when livestock wander into the thorns, their necks get entangled, choking them to the death” (124). In both of these passages, the image of entanglement reflects Claremont’s growing entanglement with Holmquist’s violence as their connection grows. Later, Sheriff McFaron warns Prusik that the thornbushes will “hang you up fierce” and reinforces the image of livestock entangled in the bushes, telling her that “if those sheep stray into it, they’ll get caught up and die unless the farmer comes in time to cut them free” (190). In this passage, the addition of the farmer protecting the livestock reflects Prusik’s growing sense that she is responsible for protecting the victims of Holmquist’s crimes, which includes proving Claremont’s innocence.
The novel’s resolution, in which both twins are killed in the thornbushes, emphasizes the symbolic connection between the thorns and Holmquist’s serial violence that ultimately ensnares Claremont as well. Claremont’s body is found “entangled” in a “vicious-looking thorn”—a symbolic death emphasized by Prusik’s final question: “[H]ad poor [Claremont] found the thorns, or had the thorns found him?” (332). Here and throughout the novel, the thornbushes act as a metaphorical representation of the growing power Holmquist’s violence has over him and, by extension, his twin.
Weaversville and Crosshaven
The fictional Indiana towns of Weaversville and Crosshaven are used throughout the novel as microcosms of traditional small-town America. Richards presents both towns as close-knit communities unused to violence, which he contrasts with bigger cities like Chicago, where Prusik lives and works. When Julie Heath’s disappearance is reported, Crosshaven Sheriff Joe McFaron notes that her mother, Karen Heath has “always been a borderline nervous wreck” and assures his deputy that “it’s probably nothing,” emphasizing the unlikelihood of violence or murder (61). This exchange demonstrates both McFaron’s deep connection with his community, having known Mrs. Heath “even in high school” and his sense that the town of Crosshaven is immune to violence (60). Later, police officers from the Weaversville Police Department fail to keep Claremont secure after he’s released on bail. Their mistakes are presented as evidence that these local law enforcement officers are less used to engaging with violent criminals than their FBI counterparts in Chicago.
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