The characters / Likely connection
Arlene Cullum
A likely identity connection, supported by compatible details but not established as one person.
The distinctive Maine name and adult activity before 1975 fit the earlier childminder; confidence is lower than for the two childcare references.
Separate catalog identities: Arlene Cullum (Dolores Claiborne) and Arlene Cullum (The Tommyknockers).
Stories and supporting passages
Dolores Claiborne
Read the passage Spoilers · Story context
In the summer I left him with Arlene Cullum—Vera wouldn’t have a crying baby in the house, not her—but when she and her husband were gone, I’d bring both him and Selena in with me. Selena could be mostly left alone—even at two going on three she could be trusted most of the time.
The distinctive Maine name and adult activity before 1975 fit the earlier childminder; confidence is lower than for the two childcare references.
Read the passage Spoilers · Story context
… when I went to work for her in the first place—this was in 1949—I went like you’d go into a dragon’s cave.
The distinctive Maine name and adult activity before 1975 fit the earlier childminder; confidence is lower than for the two childcare references.
The Tommyknockers
Read the passage Spoilers · Story context
After a while it got so that even Arlene Cullum, who sold Amway with the zeal of a Christian martyr, would make herself scarce when she saw Frank Garrick’s truck (plastered with bumper-stickers which said things like IF THE RAPTURE’S TODAY SOMEBODY GRAB MY STEERING WHEEL) driving down the village’s Main Street.
The distinctive Maine name and adult activity before 1975 fit the earlier childminder; confidence is lower than for the two childcare references.