Mrs. Beech was the widow of an unnamed man, the mother of William "Willie" Beech and Trudy and the main antagonist of the 1981 book Goodnight Mister Tom and it's 1998 film adaptation.
She was portrayed by Annabelle Apsion.
Personality[]
Mrs. Beech on her first appearance is initially portrayed to be a concerned mother looking out for her son William. But as they both enter their home again in London, her vicious and sadistic personality is revealed. She snaps and verbally abuses William for things as innocent as drawing a picture of Tom's house. She also uses her strong Catholic beliefs to punish him, thinking he has committed a sin to God.
It is later revealed how hypocritical she is, even of her own faith. She broke her own Christian values by having a baby girl out of marriage. She is also shown to be highly delusional thanks to the abuse her husband put her through before the events of the film, even shouting at the crying baby and locking her and William in a pitch black closet with no food, water or even light.
Biography[]
She and Willie were abused by her husband until his death after choking on his own vomit. Mrs. Beech was deeply religious but was also mentally ill and would act abusive towards Willie, leaving bruises on him.
In 1939, World War II started and Willie was evacuated to the countryside and Mrs. Beech had given him a bag of clothes and a belt to be used on him if he misbehaved. However Tom, the man who was caring for Willie disposed off the belt.
Shortly after Willie's tenth birthday, Mrs. Beech asked for him to be returned to her, saying she was ill. However when Willie returned home, he saw that she was perfectly fine. Mrs. Beech revealed she had a "present from Jesus" which turned out to be a baby girl (which Willie later learned that she had sex with another man, despite believing sex to be dirty). Willie shows his mother the presents he was given and talks about his friend Zach, a young Jewish boy he had befriend whilst evacuated. However, Mrs. Beech accuses Willie of stealing the presents and for interacting with Jews, before locking both Willie and the baby in a cupboard.
Sometime after this, Mrs. Beech left her home and told neighbours that Willie had been evacuated again. But Tom, who had came to see Willie, found him locked in the cupboard cradling his now dead half sister, whom he called Trudy. After this, Willie is taken to hospital, but is taken away by Tom who heard that Willie would be put in a children's home since he has no other relatives.
After returning to live with Tom, Willie is told by the authorities that his mother had taken her own life during a psychotic episode, jumping off a bridge into a river.