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Vain as a child, thin as a stork's leg, and, in her black glasses, blind as an owl in daylight. She misses her footing on the social ladder at least three times a week, only to start climbing again, wriggling her pelvis all the while. She clasps her dead, white hands beneath her chin in the high hope of hiding the flatness of her chest.
Irma Prunesquallor, described by Mervyn Peake at the beginning of the second book of the Gormenghast series.
i had to stop reading and laugh. How perfectly delightful! This quote illustrates how well Fiona Shaw captured the character of man-hungry Prunesquallor.
PBS character page: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/gormenghast/characters/irma.html
The character photo on the PBS page looks like the embodiment of this quote!
