# After the Divorce — Character guide

> Key figures in After the Divorce by Grazia Deledda.

- [Costantino Ledda](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/costantino_ledda.md): Costantino returns to Orlei after prison to find his wife Giovanna married to another man, and his days dissolve into tavern generosity, sleepless nights, and a habit of concealment learned behind bars. He still loves Gi
- [Giovanna Era](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/giovanna_era.md): Giovanna lives as Brontu Dejas's wife while waging a silent war against her mother-in-law Martina, who hopes to catch her with Costantino. She tells Costantino she wants Brontu to divorce her so she can come back as his 
- [Giacobbe Dejas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/giacobbe_dejas.md): Giacobbe moves through Orlei as a man of property and cutting talk, the one Brontu confides in and the one who laughs loudest at him. He urges Brontu to marry a fresh young girl instead of a divorced woman, and later joi
- [Brontu Dejas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/brontu_dejas.md): Brontu pursued Giovanna from the beginning, praying Costantino would be convicted so he could have her, and now finds marriage to her hollow. He bullies and blusters when drunk, threatens old Isidoro in the road, and swi
- [Aunt Bachissia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/aunt_bachissia.md): Aunt Bachissia runs her household with an iron will, outfitting Giovanna's remarriage in fine linen and kerchiefs even as the countryside gossips over the scandal. She drives Giacobbe Dejas from the house when he pleads 
- [Isidoro Pane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/isidoro_pane.md): Uncle Isidoro shares his hut and his meager catch with Costantino, urging him to marry again and find peace, though he knows the young man still meets Giovanna in secret. He is mocked in the road by drunken Brontu and ge
- [Aunt Martina Dejas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/aunt_martina_dejas.md): Matriarch of the Dejas household, she lies propped among pillows in her chamber, directing the family's affairs and even hosting a baptismal feast from her bed. Suspicious and sharp-eyed, she fixes on Giovanna with a mor
- [Aunt Porredda](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/aunt_porredda.md): A superstitious, hard-working relative in whose home Giovanna takes refuge when Costantino is arrested, she bustles between kitchen, gallery, and courtyard trying to hold the family together. Her instinct is to scold gri
- [Grazia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/grazia.md): A young woman of the neighborhood who receives shoes and small services from Costantino, she is shrewd enough to suspect his feelings for Giovanna without prying into them. Her discretion, or her willingness to look away
- [Paolo Porru](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/paolo_porru.md): A talented but poor young man, son of Uncle Efes Maria.
- [Priest Elias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/priest_elias.md): A local priest who counsels the community.
- [Mattea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/mattea.md): A servant or local woman, often mentioned in passing.
- [Uncle Efes Maria Porru](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/uncle_efes_maria_porru.md): Father of Paolo Porru, a poor but proud man.
- [Doctor Puddu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/doctor_puddu.md): A local doctor who treats the sick.
- [Malthinu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters/malthinu.md): A local man, possibly a shepherd or laborer.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_the_divorce_se/characters