Character guide

Rosalind Hilary

major

Also known as Mrs. Hilary, Rosalind, Aunt Rosalind

Rosalind wallows in the shallows at the family's birthday bathe, crying out admiration for Mrs. Hilary while noting, with relish, that the others have swum off and left her. She is big, fair, and lazily alive, a woman before whom one must keep up an appearance of immense enjoyment because she is so malicious. Her needling attentions expose the small humiliations of ageing and family love, making her a persistent, needling pressure on the Hilarys' self-possession.

Nan Hilary

major

Also known as Nan, The Hilary

Nan writes in Chelsea rooms, drifts through the humanities like a cat in the sun, and is infinitely amused by her niece and nephew—often spiteful to them merely because they are young. Her worst fault is a cynical unkindness she does not strive against, and she is jealous of Gerda and Kay for trespassing on her literary preserves. Yet she carries a broken love for Barry and a reckless plan to flee with Stephen Lumley, and her late-night collapse among her proofs makes her the book's rawest study of a clever woman coming apart.

Gerda

major

Also known as Gerda Bendish, Neville Gerda, VII Gerda, III Though Gerda, Damn Gerda, Gerda's

Gerda is twenty, yellow-haired, and earnest about politics and population in a way that both touches and needles her elders. She and Kay submit their literary efforts to Nan for criticism, believing in her powers and her influence, and she never shows the customary abashed hesitation in asking whether her poems have been read. Her slow, clear, crystal mind and her secret mystic thoughts make her the future Barry works for—and the rival Nan cannot quite forgive.

Barry Briscoe

supporting

Also known as Barry, poor Barry, simple Barry, II Barry, IV Barry, Dear Barry, Barry's

Barry works for the future, smiling encouragingly at infants in prams as 'the hope for the world,' and finds in Gerda's straight-thinking earnestness the citizen and mother of citizens he believes in. He argues politics with Nan and makes no impression on her cynical indifference; she stabs him with her keen wit and eludes him whenever he gets near. His unrequited suit for Nan and his hopeful investment in Gerda place him at the hinge between the novel's generations, a good man whose private bitterness flickers across the office window.

Neville Bendish

supporting

Also known as Neville, old Neville, poor old Neville, III Neville, VII Neville, IV Neville

Neville's forty-third birthday gathers the family and prompts her wry reckoning with the remote twenties and the extraordinary forties, ages she can hardly believe she has reached. She is the one person Nan has always told the darker secrets of her life, and their garden colloquy—'you're looking very sweet, aged one'—is the book's warmest, most unguarded exchange. Her poems, her age, and her clear-eyed tenderness make her the still centre around which the younger generation's loves and ambitions turn.

Grandmama

supporting

Also known as V Grandmama, VI Grandmama, Great-Grandmama, David Grandmama, Goliath Grandmama

Grandmama reads Chekhov's Letters on her knees, having ordered the book because Gilbert and Nan praised it, and eyes Mrs. Hilary with a twinkle when she echoes 'Most' without conviction. She dismisses psychoanalysis by way of Rosalind and Freud by way of breeding, settling people and things very quickly and satisfactorily. From her donkey chair on the esplanade she calls Mrs. Hilary out of the cold sea, the family's sharp-eyed, unsentimental witness to its small dramas of age and pride.

Pamela Neville

supporting

Also known as Pamela, Pammie, Pam, Already Pamela, Pamela Hilary

Neville's unmarried cousin in Hoxton, thirty-nine and done with ambition, whose plain talk about work, fame, and aging cuts through Neville's birthday discontent.

Jim Kenrick

supporting

Also known as Jim, VI Jim, Jimmy, Jimmy Kenrick

A young man whose chapter turns the novel's lens on the younger generation, caught between the pull of romance and the restless ambitions of his own dangerous age.

Rodney Bendish

minor

Also known as Mrs. Rodney Bendish, Mrs. Bendish

A member of the Bendish family, often mentioned in social contexts.

Gilbert

minor

Also known as Robert Browning, Gilbert's

A character possibly linked to literary allusions, with limited direct presence.

Stephen Lumley

minor

Also known as Lumley, Stephen

A minor character, possibly a professional or acquaintance.

Frances Carr

minor

Also known as Frances

A woman with a distinct identity, possibly a friend or relative.

Richard Hilary

minor

Also known as Richard

A member of the Hilary family, likely a father or uncle figure.

Margery

minor

Also known as Marjorie, May

A minor female character, possibly a servant or relative.

Mr. Cradock

minor

Also known as Dr. Cradock, Cradock, Mr.  Cradock

A doctor or professional figure consulted by the family.

Dr. Claude Evans

minor

Also known as Dr. Evans, this Dr. Evans, Dr.  Jowett

A psychoanalyst or medical doctor involved in character treatments.

Aunt Phyllis

minor

An aunt figure, likely part of the extended family.

Mr. Digby

minor

A minor character, possibly a tradesman or acquaintance.

Father

minor

A paternal figure, possibly deceased or absent.

Grandmother

minor

Another grandmother figure, distinct from Grandmama.

Emily

minor

A minor character, possibly a maid or young girl.

David

minor

Also known as Grandmama David

A biblical or metaphorical reference, possibly a pet or child.

Penelope Jessop

minor

Also known as Penelope

A minor character, possibly a friend or acquaintance.

Grandpapa

minor

The grandfather, mentioned in family discussions.

Old Mrs. Lennox

minor

An elderly neighbor or family friend.

Mr. Conrad

minor

Also known as Conrad

A minor male character, possibly a visitor or professional.

Bruce

minor

Also known as uncle Bruce

An uncle with a history of religious shifts.

Lady Adela

minor

A titled woman, possibly a social acquaintance.

Mrs. Cox

minor

A minor character, possibly a servant or neighbor.

Frank

minor

Also known as Francis Thompson

A minor character, possibly a poet or historical reference.

Mrs. Philip Snowden

minor

Also known as Mrs. Snowden

A political or social figure mentioned in passing.

Cook

minor

The household cook, a minor servant character.

Mary Rose

minor

A minor character, possibly a child or reference.