The Huntress

With her “small and slender” frame, blue eyes, and “dark hair swept into a glossy knot at her nape” (10), the Austrian-born Huntress is the prototype of feminine delicacy (10). She was the mistress of a prominent Nazi SS guard and killed non-Nazis as a sport. Her greatest assets are her subtlety and versatility, shown in her silent footfall and her ability to lose every trace of her German accent. When escapes to the cabin at Selkie Lake, she transforms herself with “an old coat and trousers” and hair that is “bleached a tired-out blond” (497). Although the Huntress is an expert at controlling her appearance and facial expressions, she cannot control the one Jordan captures with her lens. Nina, the rusalka-like predator whom the Huntress fears, also claims that she would recognize the face of the “blue-eyed bitch” (502) anywhere and under any disguise.

While the notorious killings of Sebastian, Ruth’s mother, and the six Polish children occur before the Huntress arrives in America, her instinct to hunt and protect herself continues, as she kills Daniel McBride when he no longer seems to trust her and is enthusiastic about getting Jordan out of the way. Her anti-Semitism also remains, reflected in her comments that music is “a rather Jewish thing,” and that Ruth, a likely Jewish child, would be further “tarred with that brush” (306) if she took violin lessons.