Sue Morley

Sue Morley is Emma Morley’s mother and one of the people whose family life is reshaped by Emma’s relationship with Dexter and, later, by Emma’s death. The novel gives her a small number of vivid appearances: before the wedding, she treats Dexter as the fulfillment of a private romantic fantasy; after Emma is gone, a brief phone call with him conveys the quieter, shared burden of remembering her.

Family and welcome

Before Emma and Dexter’s modest wedding, the couple spend a last holiday in Yorkshire, stopping at Emma’s parents’ home. Sue prepares for their visit with unusual ceremony: napkins replace the household’s usual kitchen roll, and there is trifle and a bottle of Perrier. The preparations make the visit feel less like an ordinary family stop and more like an occasion she has been anticipating.

Sue’s enthusiasm centers especially on Dexter. After Emma’s relationship with Ian ended, Sue had seemed unlikely to love again; now she is even more fixated on Dexter, flirting with him in an exaggerated, carefully enunciated voice. Her family watches, struggling not to laugh, while Dexter dutifully flirts back. The narration casts Sue’s delight as the realization of a long-held fantasy: Emma is, in Sue’s eyes, marrying Prince Andrew. The comedy rests on the gap between the couple’s discreet approach to their wedding and the grand, almost royal significance Sue privately gives it.

Dexter as a prospective son-in-law

Sue’s welcome is not merely expressed through the meal and table setting. Dexter plays along with her flirtation and engages with the rest of Emma’s family, including her father’s koi carp and the fortunes of United. Through her family’s eyes, Emma feels proud of Dexter: he appears boyish and funny with her cousins and sincerely interested in her father’s concerns. Sue’s particular excitement is part of this warm reception, though the account also notes that Emma’s younger sister is less convinced by Dexter’s appeal and sincerity.

Remembering Emma

On an anniversary of Emma’s death, Dexter calls Sue and Jim in Leeds as part of a series of calls to people connected to Emma. He repeats his news for each parent, telling them about the café and how Jasmine is getting on at school, then says he is thinking of them and hopes they are all right. Sue’s voice is unsteady as she tells him to look after himself before ending the call. The exchange is pleasant and straightforward, but its restraint carries the weight of the day: Dexter offers care to Emma’s parents, and Sue answers with concern for him. Her earlier, exuberant anticipation of Emma’s marriage to Dexter is thus set against this later, muted contact, in which their connection persists through the daughter they have both lost.