Margaret Roberts in Looking for Jane: A Character Analysis

Overview

Margaret Roberts—called Maggie by the women at St. Agnes's Home for Unwed Mothers—is the birth mother of Nancy Mitchell, born Jane in 1961. She is also, in the novel's central twist, the woman who later becomes Dr. Evelyn Taylor, the family physician and Jane Network abortion provider whose memoir Angela Creighton reads in 2017. Margaret's story spans more than five decades, from her confinement at the maternity home to her eventual reunion with her daughter.

The novel presents Margaret through multiple lenses: the hidden note she tucks into her baby's booties, the obituary Angela finds in a university library, the memoir she writes under a borrowed name, and finally her own voice in the chapters narrated as Evelyn. This layered presentation makes her both an object of search and a subject of her own story. She is the novel's hidden center—a character who is dead to the world for most of the narrative, yet whose choices shape every timeline.

Plot Role

Margaret functions as the novel's hidden center. In the 2017 timeline, Angela Creighton's search for Nancy's birth mother leads her to an obituary and a news article, and she concludes Margaret died by suicide shortly after giving birth. This conclusion drives Angela's mission to honor Margaret's last wish—that her daughter know she was loved and never wanted to give her up.

The twist, revealed in Chapter 30, reframes the entire narrative: Margaret did not die. She survived her suicide attempt, was saved by her brother Jack's blood transfusion, and took on the identity of her deceased friend Evelyn Taylor. The obituary Angela finds was a deliberate fabrication, placed by Jack to protect Margaret from prosecution for stabbing Sister Teresa and to allow her to escape the consequences of the home's abuse.

This means Margaret is simultaneously the novel's most absent and most present character. She is absent from Nancy's life for decades, but she is present as the narrator of the Evelyn chapters, the author of the memoir, and the doctor who performs Nancy's abortion in 1981 without knowing who Nancy is. The novel's structure—alternating between Angela's search, Nancy's memories, and Evelyn's first-person account—keeps Margaret's true identity hidden until the final act.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Margaret's primary motivation is love for her daughter. The note she hides in the booties—I did not want to give you up. I will never stop searching for you—is explicit evidence of this. Her later actions confirm it: she places classified ads seeking her daughter, she volunteers with the Jane Network partly to ensure other women have choices she was denied, and she writes a memoir that includes her search.

Her defiance is shown through her attack on Sister Teresa. After finding Evelyn's body, Margaret takes a knife from the kitchen and stabs the warden. This is an act of rage and grief, but it is also a refusal to accept the institution's power over her. The novel does not present this as justified violence so much as a desperate response to unbearable circumstances.

Her survival instinct is evident in her escape, her suicide attempt, and her decision to assume Evelyn's identity. She slits her wrists at her brother's house, but when Jack saves her, she chooses to live. She tells Jack about the home's conditions and keeps Evelyn's police letter as insurance against prosecution—a pragmatic decision that shows her capacity for strategic thinking.

Her loyalty is shown in her friendship with the real Evelyn. Evelyn's letter calls Maggie like a sister, and Maggie honors Evelyn's request to post the letters to her parents and the police. She carries Evelyn's memory into her new life, even taking her name. This is both an act of devotion and a practical necessity.

Chronological Arc

Margaret's arc can be divided into five phases:

Confinement (1960–1961): Margaret arrives at St. Agnes's as a pregnant teenager. She had wanted to go to Scotland, but her mother refused. At the home, she forms a close friendship with Evelyn Taylor, her roommate. She warns Evelyn about mail monitoring and rejects the idea of escape, saying she has nowhere to go.

Trauma and Transformation (May 1961): After giving birth to Jane, Margaret discovers Evelyn's suicide. She stabs Sister Teresa, flees with Sister Agatha's help, and attempts suicide at her brother's house. Jack saves her. She tells him about the home's abuses and keeps Evelyn's police letter.

New Identity (1961–1971): With Jack's help, Margaret fakes her death. The obituary for Margaret Elizabeth Roberts is published in June 1961. She applies to McGill as Evelyn Taylor and eventually becomes a family physician trained under Dr. Morgentaler.

The Jane Network Years (1971–1988): Margaret, as Evelyn, joins the Jane Network in 1971. She performs abortions, including one on Nancy in 1981. She meets Nancy again at St. Sebastian's in 1983. She continues her work until the Morgentaler decision in 1988.

Reunion (2017): Angela connects Margaret (as Evelyn) with Nancy. They meet, and Nancy tells her mother she may call her Jane. For the full resolution of this arc, see the ending explained.

Relationships

With the real Evelyn Taylor: The friendship is the emotional core of Margaret's time at St. Agnes's. They share warmth, secrets, and a mutual understanding of their powerlessness. Evelyn's suicide letter entrusts Margaret with her final messages and asks her to never, never stop looking for Jane.

With Jack: Margaret's brother is her rescuer. He transfuses his own blood to save her, helps fake her death, and shares the inheritance that funds a medical scholarship for single mothers. He maintains the deception of her death until their parents die.

With her parents: George and Esther Roberts refused to believe Margaret was raped. This rejection is the reason she maintains the deception of her death—she cannot return to a family that denies her truth.

With Nancy/Jane: Margaret's relationship with her daughter is defined by absence and longing. She searches for Jane for decades but cannot use her real name. When they finally meet, Nancy tells her she has been looking for her.

With Tom O'Reilly: Margaret marries Tom, a gay doctor, as a mutual cover. They divorce so Tom can marry his partner Reg. This marriage is a practical arrangement, not a romantic one.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Stabbing Sister Teresa: This act forces Margaret to flee and ultimately to abandon her identity. It is the catalyst for her transformation into Evelyn Taylor.

Attempting suicide: Margaret's suicide attempt is a response to trauma, but Jack's intervention gives her a second chance. She chooses to live and to fight for other women.

Assuming Evelyn's identity: This decision allows Margaret to become a doctor and to help women through the Jane Network. It also means she cannot openly search for her daughter, because doing so would expose her deception.

Keeping Evelyn's police letter: This letter becomes Margaret's insurance against prosecution. It also ensures the home's abuses are exposed, leading to its closure.

Joining the Jane Network: Margaret's decision to offer her medical services to the network is a direct response to her own experience of being denied choice. It gives her life purpose and connects her to a community of women.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Margaret's story connects directly to the novel's central themes:

Reproductive autonomy: Margaret is denied choice at every turn—she is forced to give up her baby, and her parents refuse to believe she was raped. Her later work with the Jane Network is her way of ensuring other women have the choice she was denied. See reproductive autonomy and the fight for safe, legal abortion access.
Trauma of forced adoption: Margaret's note and her decades-long search for Jane embody the lasting wound of forced adoption. The novel shows how this trauma shapes both mother and child. See the trauma of forced adoption and the long shadow of institutional abuse.
Secrecy and the cost of silence: Margaret's entire life after 1961 is built on secrecy. She cannot use her real name, cannot search openly for her daughter, and must maintain the fiction of her death. The novel suggests this secrecy has a cost, even as it enables her survival. See secrecy and the cost of silence.
Female solidarity: Margaret's friendship with Evelyn, her relationship with Sister Agatha (who unlocks the garden door), and her work with the Jane Network all demonstrate the power of women supporting women. See female solidarity and mutual support networks.
Search for identity: Margaret's story is inseparable from Nancy's search for her biological origins. The yellow booties and the note are symbols of this search—objects that carry Margaret's love across decades. See the search for identity and biological origins.

The yellow booties are a particularly powerful symbol. Margaret knits them for her daughter, hides her note inside one toe, and later wears a yellow blouse to her reunion with Nancy, matching the booties. The color yellow recurs as a thread connecting mother and daughter across time.

Questions and Answers

1. Why did Margaret Roberts's obituary say she died unexpectedly in her twentieth year?

The obituary was a deliberate fabrication. Margaret did not die in 1961. After stabbing Sister Teresa and attempting suicide, she was saved by her brother Jack, who helped her fake her death and assume the identity of her deceased friend Evelyn Taylor. The obituary was placed to protect Margaret from prosecution and to allow her to escape the consequences of the home's abuse.

2. What happened to the real Evelyn Taylor?

The real Evelyn Taylor died by suicide in May 1961, after learning from Sister Agatha that her baby had been sold and had died. She left letters for Maggie, her parents, and the police, detailing the home's abuses. Maggie found her body and later sent the police letter, which led to the home's closure.

3. Why did Margaret never contact Nancy directly?

Margaret could not use her real name without exposing her deception. She searched for Jane through classified ads and through her memoir, but she could not openly identify herself as Margaret Roberts. She also had to maintain the fiction of her death to protect herself from prosecution.

4. How did Margaret and Nancy first meet without knowing each other?

In March 1981, Dr. Evelyn Taylor performed an abortion on Nancy, who had been referred to her through the Jane Network. They met again in 1983 at St. Sebastian's nursing home, where Nancy volunteered and Dr. Taylor visited a dying patient. Neither recognized the other's true identity.

5. What does the note in the booties reveal about Margaret's character?

The note—I did not want to give you up. I will never stop searching for you—reveals Margaret's love for her daughter, her grief at the forced adoption, and her determination to find Jane. It is the emotional anchor of the novel, and it is what ultimately brings Angela, Nancy, and Margaret together in 2017.

For more discussion of Margaret's role and the novel's themes, see the questions and answers page or return to the main book page.