Poor Things

Content Warning: This section discusses suicide, pedophilia, incest, and non-consensual medical experimentation.

The final section of Poor Things consists of a letter from Victoria McCandless. It is addressed to her oldest living descendant, to be read in the year 1974, when she assumes her three sons will be either deceased or senile. The goal of this letter is to correct errors in McCandless’s account of events. Victoria’s husband spent a lot of money publishing his manuscript about her. She refutes many of the claims he makes in it. She married McCandless for convenience, but grew to like and rely on him over the years. McCandless did not have an illustrious career; he was a public health officer for just 11 months before becoming the chairman of the Glasgow Civic Improvement Trust, which gave him lots of free time. In his free time he took an active role in raising their three sons, Baxter, Godwin, and Archibald, while Victoria focused on her work as a doctor. 

McCandless spent much of his unremarkable career writing books, which he self-published at great expense. Victoria was frustrated by his desire for her validation, as she did not think much of his writing. She wishes he had put his talents to more practical uses, or at least spent more time pushing for reform for the labor class from which he came.