arwen helen isley.
when lillian isley found out she was pregnant with her first (and only) child with her husband sawyer, she couldn’t wait to share the news with her sister, helen little. the two had been inseparable as kids and well into their adulthood. and it was by luck that helen herself, was already three months into her own first pregnancy. sharing the bond of motherhood together had only made the sister closer as they welcomed their daughters into the world with a plan to raise their kids together as an act of keeping their families close.
arwen was welcomed into the world on december 30, 1994 at 11:30 PM and named after a character in one of her mother’s favorite novels. raised in boston until the age of six, young arwen spent the first few years of her life close with her aunt helen, uncle george and her literal best friend; charlotte little. it was a devastating loss for both families when helen’s diagnosis of terminal cancer eventually claimed her life and changed the future for both the isley and little families.
moving to sawyer’s hometown of manhattan after the death of helen, sawyer was able to take on the career of his dreams when he was announced as the creative fashion designer for louis vuitton. their life in new york, had been perfect. at least that is how it seemed to outsiders. but inside the walls of their 5th avenue penthouse, it was an entirely different story. sawyer struggled as a functioning alcoholic who would often take his anger out on his wife and daughter. his anger took on the form of physicality towards lily, often abusing her in his nightly tirades. but when it came to arwen, he demanded perfection from the petite ginger. she was provided every opportunity that money could buy with private schools, tutors and enough extracurricular activities that kept her at the top of all of her classes.
the demand to be the perfect daddy’s girl had weighed heavily on her shoulders and arwen learned to mimic the cruel behavior of her father to the kids in school that picked on her from an early age about her bright red hair and small stature. but unlike sawyer, she had learned how to manipulate the people around her to get the things that she wanted and to get back at the people she was hurt by feigning a politeness that she learned in charm school. despite being known for her manipulation, arwen had managed to keep a tightknit group of close friends that kept her grounded as she grew into her teens. in the summer of 2010, the isley’s home life became very public when sawyer’s abuse went too far and nearly claimed lillian’s life. unable to ignore the screaming and the threat of losing her mother, arwen accidentally shoved her father too hard down the stairs in order to protect lily. the accident would ultimately cause the untimely death of sawyer isley and in an act to protect her daughter, lily claimed to have been the responsible party as self-defense.
after the accident it didn’t take long for arwen to recover from the untimely death of her father. with the pressure off to follow in his footsteps, she finally had the free time she wanted to focus on the garden she created on the terrace of their home and learn as much as she could about the plant life she fell in love with from her bedroom window view of central park. when it came to leave for college, arwen took her passion for horticulture and was accepted into the university of california, berkeley where she would go on to major in genetics and plant biology. she currently lives off of the isley fashion and beauty brand – now under the creative control of lillian – while returning for her third year in the doctorate program at uc berkeley to earn her phd in plant biology and works as a nursery specialist at the conservatory of flowers.
