Wall Street Crash

The Wall Street Crash appears as a biographical turning point in Jacqueline de Bellefort’s family history: Linnet Doyle says that the loss of her mother’s money left Jacqueline absolutely broke, helping explain the hardship that followed her family’s earlier breakup.

Reference and Context

Linnet recounts the crash while explaining Jacqueline’s circumstances to Joanna Southwood. She describes Jacqueline as her oldest friend, says they attended a convent in Paris together, and presents her friend’s recent history as a succession of misfortunes. In that account, Jacqueline’s French father had left with another woman before her American mother lost all her money in the Wall Street Crash.

Effect on Jacqueline

The crash is identified as the cause of the mother’s financial loss, not as a complete explanation of Jacqueline’s later life. Linnet links it to Jacqueline being left without money and says she does not know how her friend managed during the following two years. The reference establishes financial hardship while leaving the practical details of Jacqueline’s survival unstated.

Narrative Significance

The crash is part of the novel’s backstory rather than a scene depicted in its own right. Its importance here is personal: it helps define the misfortune Linnet attributes to Jacqueline and supplies context for the latter’s precarious circumstances. The brief account offers no further details about the crash itself.