Poplan was a wonderfully versatile character to work with. She can be so silly and offbeat, with her tastes for exotic Asian fruits and Irish fiddle music and kimonos, but then in a heartbeat can become a sincere and loving mother figure for Finny. For all her eccentricities, Poplan has a moral core that proves a strong influence on Finny. There’s a closeness between Finny and this stand-in mom that I found touching and real. Finny talks about “making a family from the scraps of other people’s families,” and I think she was lucky to find Poplan in the mix.
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