# Anna Reeves — In the Days of the Comet character guide

> Anna Reeves in In the Days of the Comet by H. G. Wells.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Anna

**First appearance:** 0010-ii-nettie

## Snapshot

A plain, sturdy young woman whose quiet goodness and steadfast care for Willie's dying mother reveal a love that outlasts the old world's cruelties.

## Who they are

Anna Reeves enters Willie Leadford's life as a blue-clad, white-aproned nurse tending his dying mother, one of those hidden, unthanked women who held the old world's suffering together. She is three years older than Willie, short and ruddy with red-tinged hair, and at first he finds no beauty in her—only the apt help of her freckled hands and the good cheer of her voice. She matters because her patient devotion, rooted in the dark old times yet pointing toward the new, becomes the quiet counterweight to Willie's bitterness and the emotional anchor of the story's middle arc.

## In the story

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters/ii)

The landlady of the Menton inn; a motherly, optimistic woman who speaks of the Change with hope.

### [II: My Mother’s Last Days](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters/ii-my-mother-s-last-days)

Comes to care for Willie's mother, showing kindness and becoming a comforting presence.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters/iv)

A kind young woman who comes to care for Mrs. Leadford, earning Willie's growing admiration.

### [Beltane and New Year’s Eve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters/iii-beltane-and-new-year-s-eve)

Nurse who informs Willie of his mother's death; later becomes his wife and mother of his son, offering comfort and love.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters/i)

Nurse Anna who informs the narrator by telephone of his mother's death.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters/ii)

Briefly encounters Willie on the staircase, but he is too preoccupied to engage with her.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters/iii)

Has been watching by the dead mother's side; comforts Willie and kisses him passionately.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/chapters/iv)

Willie's wife; they marry after the Great Change and share a deep, faithful partnership.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/characters/anna_reeves
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_days_of_the_comet_se/characters