Ma is also a complex, realistic and well-developed character. Donoghue does not present the pure, innocent victim stolen away before she experienced anything. For example, Ma mentions having had an abortion and she tells doctor Clay that she feels like smacking her mother. After an interview with an insensitive interviewer, Ma tries to take her own life. We clearly see that Ma has been damaged by her horrific, 7-year ordeal. Donoghue’s refusal to make a simple, fairy-tale, happy-ever-after ending for mA makes for a credible, interesting character doing her best to cope in horrific circumstances.