Character guide

Mary Pinesett

major

Also known as Scarlet Sister Mary, Sister Mary, Mary

Mary grows up motherless in Maum Hannah's cabin, marrying July with her whole heart even as Cinder circles him. When July dances with Cinder at her own wedding, Mary steps into the firelight and dances alone — a small rebellion that reveals the pride and hunger that will define her. Her story turns on that split between the deacons' God and her own restless will.

July Pinesett

major

Also known as July, Old Paupa July, Dat July

July is the man every woman in the Quarter wants and the one Mary gets, his fine new suit and straight brows making him the envy of the groomsmen. Yet even on his wedding day he dances with Cinder while his bride stands outside, and his heart thumps under her arm with something other than calm. His absences and reappearances will test whether Mary's pride can hold what her love cannot.

Budda Ben

supporting

Also known as Budda, Crippled Budda Ben, Ben

Crippled in body but sharp in spirit, Budda Ben is both father and brother to Mary, the one person who sees through her pride without judging it. When she sends July away, Budda Ben names her flaw aloud — 'too proudful' — and takes her hand in his trembling ones. His quiet counsel anchors Mary's conscience through the choices that shape her life.

Maum Hannah

supporting

Also known as Hannah, X Maum Hannah, XX Maum Hannah

Maum Hannah raised Mary in the cabin where Mary was born, and her piercing eyes miss nothing — not the wedding cakes she appraises with leaking jaws, not the shame Mary tries to hide. She prays daily to outlive her crippled son Budda Ben so she can see his coffin made right. Her love is the moral gravity Mary spends the novel straining against.

Unex

supporting

Also known as Blessed little Unex, baby Unex, little Unex

Unex is Mary's first child, the beginning of the long line of births that will mark her as a mother in the Quarter. In her vision he speaks with a man's gravity, showing her the ten bloody stripes on white cloth and naming Seraphine's sin as her own responsibility. His appearance turns Mary's private guilt into a public reckoning she cannot pray away.

Andrew

supporting

Also known as Cun Andrew

Andrew is the kind of man the Quarter relies on — he gives up his own son to fill out Mary's wedding procession when she comes up short a flower girl. When Mary disappears all night in spiritual agony, it is Andrew who searches for her, fearing she has drowned herself in the river. His haggard face and gentle arm carry her home, making him the quiet witness to her hardest transformations.

Brer Dee

supporting

Also known as old Brer Dee, Doll, Kind old Brer Dee

Brer Dee stands beside Reverend Duncan at Mary's wedding, one of the few elders whose presence anchors the community's sacred and social rituals. His age gives him a quiet authority that younger voices like Doll's cannot claim, and his stories carry the plantation's history forward. When the women argue over Mary's waywardness, his steady witness reminds them that judgment and mercy have long coexisted here.

Cinder

supporting

Cinder drifts through the community with a pointed chin and a talent for making men forget their obligations, and July is no exception. Her easy laughter and shining eyes turn Mary's wedding joy into a slow-burning jealousy that will shape everything Mary does next. She is the first woman to show Mary what betrayal feels like from the inside, and the wound she leaves never quite closes.

June

supporting

June moves through the wedding crowd as a groomsman and neighbor, his generosity stitching him into the fabric of Mary's new life. He is steady where July is restless, and that steadiness makes him both a comfort and a target. When Mary first tests the charm Daddy Cudjoe gave her, it is June who feels its power, and his stunned response teaches her what the charm can do.

Daddy Cudjoe

supporting

Also known as Daddy, old Daddy Cudjoe, Poor Daddy Cudjoe, Old Daddy Cudjoe

Daddy Cudjoe lives at the edge of the plantation's moral world, where root-work and old knowledge survive alongside Reverend Duncan's black Book. He gives Mary the charm that brings July back and later restores her withered body to its old supple grace, a gift she cherishes as if it were God's own. His presence in the novel keeps the reader aware that the community's Christianity and its older magic are braided together, not opposed.

Seraphine

supporting

Seraphine shares the cramped house and the long nights with Mary after Unex's death, her sleeping infant a small living counterweight to the grief that fills the rooms. She is practical where Mary is feverish, hushing her baby with sleepy words while Mary's misery splits her heart in two. Her ordinary motherhood throws Mary's losses into relief and gives the novel one of its quietest measures of what a woman's life can hold.

Keepsie

minor

A local man with a minor role in village life.

Si May

minor

Also known as May, Si May - e

A community member, possibly a relative of Mary.

Auntie

minor

Also known as Looka Auntie

An older woman who interacts with Mary occasionally.

Big Boy

minor

A young man in the community, known for his strength.

Emma

minor

Also known as little Emma

A child or young woman in the village.

Reverend Duncan

minor

A preacher who leads church services in the community.

Honey

minor

A minor character, possibly a child or nickname.

Jedus

minor

A local figure, possibly a nickname for Jesus in dialect.

Black Annie

minor

Also known as Black Annie Moore, Little Nan, Nan, lil Nan

A woman with a troubled past, briefly mentioned.

Maum Lou

minor

Also known as Lou

An elderly woman in the community.

Tom

minor

A man mentioned in passing in village affairs.

Juba

minor

Also known as Juba - lee

A name referenced in songs or stories.

Gabriel

minor

Also known as The angel Gabriel

Biblical figure mentioned in religious context.