Maggie had never told Hal who her father was. It was during her time at Trepassen that Maggie got pregnant, narrowing the possibilities of the identity of Hal’s father. Hal eventually learned that Maggie, her mother, stayed with the Westaways after the death of her parents.

Hal decided to stay with the Westaways longer hoping to learn about her mother’s connection to them. Westaway’s sons, gave Hal a picture of the Westaway siblings that included Hal’s mother. She knew that she would never be able to pass the inspection required by such a large bequest but Abel Westaway, one of Mrs. Westaway’s will was read and she learned she had been bequeathed the entirety of the estate with the exception of some money for the other grandchildren and the housekeeper.

She hoped that she would be bequeathed perhaps a few hundred pounds, money that could lighten her financial load, and no one would notice she was an imposter. Being so desperate for money, Hal decided to meet the family. Only Hal knew the woman named in the will was not her grandmother. Treswick, telling Hal that she has been named in her grandmother’s will. It is at this point that Hal got a letter from the lawyer, Mr. Even though she has paid back the loan plus an exorbitant amount of interest, the man is threatening Hal with physical harm unless she pays even more money that he claims she owes. Believing she could give herself some financial breathing room, Hal borrowed money from a man who turned out to be a loan shark. Since Hal’s mother, Maggie, died just before Hal turned 18, Hal had been trying to pay her bill by taking over her mother’s place as a tarot reader on a Brighton Beach pier. What Hal discovered as she became acquainted with the Westaways was both much better, and much worse, than she had ever imagined.

Even though Hal knew she was not the granddaughter of this woman, as the letter indicated, Hal decided to take her chances that her identity would not be questioned very closely and see what might happen. Westaway by Ruth Ware, twenty-one-year-old Harriet “Hal” Westaway was struggling to make ends meet when she received notification she had been named as a beneficiary in Mrs. The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Ware, Ruth.

Ruth ware the death of mrs westaway