# Unex — Scarlet Sister Mary character guide

> Unex in Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin.

**Role:** supporting

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

**First appearance:** 0003-ii

## Snapshot

Mary's firstborn, little Unex returns in a dream as a grave-voiced messenger, counting scarlet stripes for every sin his mother must answer for.

## Who they are

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.

## Relationships

### [Mary Pinesett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/characters/mary_pinesett)

_romantic_

Unex is Mary's passionate but irresponsible lover after July leaves her, representing fleeting desire.

### [Mary Pinesett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/characters/mary_pinesett)

_romantic_

Unex is Mary's passionate but irresponsible lover after July leaves her, representing fleeting desire.

### [Mary Pinesett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/characters/mary_pinesett)

_romantic_

Unex is Mary's passionate but irresponsible lover after July leaves her, representing fleeting desire.

## In the story

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/viii)

Unex is born in the middle of the road, described as a fine, strong, full-term baby with long legs like July.

### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/ix)

Baby Unex wakes and cries, needing food, and Mary attends to him during the tense visit with Cinder.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/x)

Mary's baby, cared for by Maum Hannah while Mary works and later taken to meeting.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/xiv)

Mary's baby, who develops a cough that Maum Hannah attributes to Mary's bad breast milk.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/xv)

Now crawling and standing alone; Mary contemplates his future and mortality.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/xvi)

Growing stronger with spring; outgrown his clothes; plays with children at Maum Hannah's.

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/xviii)

Mary's only lawful child, now grown and gone away like his father, taking only a bundle of clothes and July's guitar; no word ever comes from him.

### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/xxvi)

Unex is mentioned as having left Mary, and July asks about him.

### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/xxviii)

Unex returns home unexpectedly in the rain, carrying his baby Emma after the mother's death. He asks Mary to raise the child.

### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/xxix)

Returns home ill, suffers fever and pain, and dies in Mary's arms.

### [The Death of Unex](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/xxx)

The deceased child, washed, shrouded, and buried in a pine box.

### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/xxxi)

Appears in Mary's vision, showing her the cloth with scarlet stripes and holding her accountable for her sins and Seraphine's.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/characters/unex
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/characters