Character Analysis
As readers, we never "meet" Christine, who died in a car accident before the book begins. We hear about her some from her family, who misses her terribly.
But we think she sounds awesome.
Mom had dark hair that she always kept in a ponytail. She wore jeans, never skirts. She took care of the house and she worked in the garden and she teased Dad, especially when she quoted poetry at us. (2.1)
None of the Byrons ever have anything to bad to say about her. One could argue that she's an idealized character (a little too perfect), but on the other hand, she died very recently—and suddenly. It would probably be weird if her family were focusing on her bad qualities so soon after her death.
There's a sense, in the Byron family's stories, that Christine and Jim balanced each other out as parents. She had a light touch. Take, for instance, the time she and her husband tried to teach Gerry to swim.
When Dad tried, Gerry sank and cried, and Dad got mad. When Mom tried, he still sank, but Mom got sad. (7.50)
She wins the More Sympathetic Parent award…although, to be fair, the competition isn't too stiff.
There's also the sense that she was a sort of mediator between her kids and her husband. When Ben thinks his dad is pushing Gerry too hard, he finds himself thinking of what his mother would have done.
I realized then that I was standing there waiting for Mom to come—for her to step in and change everything. I was waiting, but she would never come. (11.47)
Dealing with that new reality—the fact that Christine Byron is gone—is what propels all the action in the novel. Even in her absence, that makes her an important character.