Character guide

Miriam Henderson

major

Also known as Miss Miriam Henderson, Miss Miriam, Miss Henderson, Mirry, Lucy Miriam

Miriam Henderson stands at the head of a schoolroom and the edge of her own life, holding the lower school together while privately recoiling from the trams, the sore throats, and the certificates that measure her worth. When she announces she is leaving, her employers' tears and Miss Jenny's quizzical warnings only harden her resolve, though she has no real place to go. Her stubborn, half-blind leap matters because it sets the whole arc of her search for a life she can actually inhabit.

Miss Jenny Perne

supporting

Also known as Miss Jenny, Miss Perne, Miss Jennie, Perne, Jenny, tall Miss Perne

Miss Jenny Perne is the school's practical conscience, the one who recommends certificates, counts costs, and sees through Miriam's vague talk of a country family. Yet when she warns that Miriam is a madcap, her sharp voice softens and she offers the girl a home in her holidays. Her mixture of businesslike skepticism and unspoken affection makes her the human face of the world Miriam is trying to leave.

Eve

supporting

Eve moves through seaside holidays and family outings with a dimpling laugh, courting the Greens' comfortable world of plenty and strong, clever people. She listens to Miriam but does not agree, finding her teaching hard and inhuman, and quietly means to become like other people. Her contentment with the ordinary sharpens Miriam's unease about what she herself is reaching for.

Harriett

supporting

Also known as VII Harriett

Harriett Henderson is the sister whose cheerful, slangy letters arrive just when Miriam feels most blue, promising subscription dances and Gerald's ticket if she cannot stump up. She signs herself Harry and insists Miriam is just the same, no bally good pretending otherwise. Her warmth and refusal to be impressed keep Miriam tethered to the family self she is trying to outgrow.

Julia Doyle

supporting

Also known as Julia

Julia Doyle moves among the older girls who drift in after class, lacing boots, trading talk of ties and parties, and treating dancing as divine. She is part of the noisy social texture Miriam both manages and stands apart from, her easy chatter a measure of the ordinary girlhood Miriam cannot simply join. Her presence grounds the school scenes in the everyday life Miriam is deciding to leave.

Miss Haddie

supporting

Also known as Haddie, Flushing scarlet Miss Haddie

Miss Haddie sits at the school table with eyes full of dark fear, alone and outraged, certain that Miriam is a fraud besides being vulgar. When Miriam offers her broadest home smile, Miss Haddie flushes scarlet and smiles in return, a small thaw in a wary relationship. Her puzzled, wounded watchfulness gives Miriam's decision a human cost and shows how little her colleagues truly know her.

Ted

minor

Also known as Little Ted, Edward

A young boy, possibly a student or relative of Miriam.

Nancie Wilkie

minor

Also known as Nancie, Annie

A friend or fellow teacher, part of Miriam's social circle.

Sarah

minor

Also known as Sally, sober Sally, Sober Sally

A servant or maid in the Henderson household.

Gerald

minor

A male acquaintance or potential love interest of Miriam.

Mr. Parrow

minor

Also known as Parrow

A local man, possibly a tradesman or neighbor.

Miss Deborah

minor

Also known as Deborah

A teacher or older woman at the school.

Margaret Wedderburn

minor

Also known as Meg Wedderburn, Meg

A friend or fellow teacher, possibly Scottish.

Mrs. Henderson

minor

Miriam's mother, a presence in the household.

Mary Allen

minor

Also known as Allen, Polly, Polly Allen

A friend or servant, possibly a childhood companion.

Eunice Dupont

minor

Also known as Eunice

A friend or acquaintance, possibly French.

Beadie Fetherwell

minor

Also known as Beadie, Beadie Featherwell

A friend or acquaintance, possibly a fellow teacher.

Tommy Babington

minor

Also known as Tom, Tommy, naughty Tommy, Brother Tommy

A young boy, possibly a student or relative.

Burra

minor

A friend or acquaintance, possibly a nickname.

Nan Babington

minor

Also known as Nan

A friend or acquaintance, possibly from Miriam's past.

Max Sonnenheim

minor

Also known as Max

A male acquaintance, possibly a musician or artist.

Flora Broom

minor

Also known as Florrie Broom

A friend or servant, part of the Broom family.

Grace Broom

minor

Also known as Grace

Another member of the Broom family, possibly a sister.

Trixie Sanderson

minor

Also known as Trixie

A young woman, possibly a student or friend.

Bob Greville

minor

Also known as old Bob Greville, dear Bob, Dear Bob

An older male acquaintance, possibly a family friend.

Bennett Brodie

minor

Also known as Bennett

A male acquaintance, possibly a suitor or friend.

Harry

minor

Also known as Henry II, the Harry he had seen for the first time

A young man, possibly a relative or acquaintance.

Mr. Green

minor

Also known as Green

A local man, possibly a tradesman or neighbor.

Miss Meldrum

minor

A teacher or governess at the school.

Bevan Seymour

minor

Also known as Bevan

A male acquaintance, possibly a friend of Gerald.

Charlotte Stubbs

minor

Also known as Charlotte

A friend or servant, possibly a cook or maid.

Pater

minor

Miriam's father, referred to formally.

Mimmy

minor

Also known as Mim

A pet name for a child or younger sister.

Adèle

minor

A French friend or acquaintance of Miriam.

Gertie

minor

Also known as Cold, quiet little Gertie

A quiet young girl, possibly a student.

Jessie Wheeler

minor

Also known as Jessie, Jessie Wheeler's

A friend or servant, possibly a seamstress.

Vashti

minor

Also known as Presently Vashti

A biblical or literary allusion, possibly a character in a story.

Ovingdean

minor

A place name used as a personification or nickname.

Miss Cass

minor

A teacher or governess at the school.

Miss Stringer

minor

A teacher or governess at the school.