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Esther Hartlieb
Esther Hartlieb
Gender Female
Family members Max Hartlieb (husband)
Unnamed woman (sister; deceased)
Prosper (nephew; disowned)
Boniface (nephew; disowned)
Ernesto Barbarossa (adopted son)
Winston Chang Hartlieb (adopted son)
Hair colour Ash blonde
Fate Alive
Appearances The Thief Lord
Portrayed by Carole Boyd

Esther Harlieb is the wife of Max Hartlieb, the sister of Zeke Kramp, and the aunt of Prosper and Boniface. When her sister, their mother, dies, she plans to adopt Bo and send Prosper to boarding school, but they run away from their aunt's house to Venice. Esther and Max then consult the help of private detective Victor Getz.

Biography[]

The Thief Lord[]

Main article: The Thief Lord

Appearance[]

"She had ash-blonde hair and a pointed nose. Her mouth didn't look as if smiling was its favorite activity."
—Victor Getz describing Esther

Esther has ash blonde hair and a pointed noise. She is rather small.

Personality[]

"Every night, while Bo slept as soundly as a kitten, Prosper dreamed of Esther. Upright, nervous, hairspray-sticky Esther."
—Narrator on Prosper's dreams

Esther is rather gullible and easily taken in by a person's appearance. She is shown to be nervous, upright, and easily agitated. Esther can be classified under antagonist or driving force. At first Esther is recognized as an evil, shallow, materialistic and selfish person with conditional love for whom appearance is very important. She can be described as pretentious, ostentatious and a superficial person. At the end of the book when Esther adopts Barbarossa a new view of Esther can be seen. Esther claims she’s lonely and wants a child who likes her as a mother and that her nephews think she is a witch or that they may even think she's too boring for that.

Relationships[]

Max Hartlieb[]

At one point Esther married Max Hartlieb. They have been unable to have children.

Sister[]

"My sister had a fondness for anything peculiar."
—Esther Hartlieb

Esther was presumably close to her sister as they grew up together and decided to adopt the boys for her sake, though she intended to send Prosper off to boarding school.

Bo[]

Prosper[]

Victor Getz[]

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