Eliza is a wealthy American woman at the intersection of an intergenerational story; through the novel, she navigates relationships with both her mother and her daughter, and all three come together to create a broader image of the Woolsey character. While Eliza has much in common with Sofya and fills a similar social role in America to the one Sofya occupies in Russia, she is more self-aware and displays a more intuitive, empathetic view of what’s happening in the world around her. For these reasons and because of her outside perspective, she is able to perceive the growing threat around Sofya’s home before Sofya and her family are willing to accept that it is real. Her empathy sometimes leads her to act against her own best interests, such as when she keeps Peg in her household despite the maid’s ineptitude and disrespect.

In addition to her relationships with the women in her family, Eliza explores two key romantic relationships in the novel: with her husband, Henry, and with her prior admirer, Richard Merrill. Eliza enjoys Merrill’s affections, but their relationship is distorted when she blames his actions for Henry’s death. By shifting the blame onto Merrill, she avoids having to consider how Henry’s own choices may have led to his illness, or how her own lack of knowledge may have condemned him to death when he could have recovered.