Character Study: Meriel-Claire Elgin from Ledger of the Open Hand

In Character Study, we’ll take a deeper look at one character from a book or series. Get to know the character–what they like, what they do, and, more importantly, what they read. If you’re intrigued, you can spend a little more time getting to know them by reading the book!

Meet Meriel-Claire Elgin. She’s as weighed down by her hyphenated first name as much as she is her acute sense of fiscal morality – though her friends and family will tell you it’s the latter you’ll notice. Meriel-Claire’s apparent stinginess is thrown in even sharper relief when contrasted with her laissez-faire college roommate-turned-bestselling novelist, Daneen, who throws around her money like she does her affection. Meriel-Claire does the opposite, holding both in, tightly, until she’s debited the last shred of patience from her parents, siblings, and partner.Meriel-Claire’s fastidious money sense leads her to a government career in debt counselling, though she can only pretend to understand her clients’ frivolous, big-ticket purchases and revenge spending between quarrelling spouses. It is only when she loosens her strings – purse and heart – for a complete stranger that she begins to see there’s more to life than being in the black, and that risk truly does have its rewards.Get to know Meriel-Claire in Leslie Vryenhoek’s Ledger of the Open Hand, out from Breakwater Books.