How would you interpret ‘she is not like that’ here?
Mrs. Brown began talking before she’d unbuttoned her coat, plainly out of sorts. She is not like that, filling up a silence with idle talk, the goings-on at Mrs. Bittle’s while we were away. Then came the report that Mr. Judd had died, on Christmas Day.
How would you interpret ‘she is not like that’ in the second sentence?
Does it mean she didn’t behave in her usual way?
PS: Mrs. Bittle’s was a boarding house where Mrs. Brown lived. Mr. Judd had been living at Mrs. Bittle’s too.
Thanks! Thanks! This excerpt is taken from The Lacuna by Kingsolver.