# Rhoda Brook — Short Fiction character guide

> Rhoda Brook in Short Fiction by Thomas Hardy.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Rhoda, Brook

**First appearance:** 0002-destiny-and-a-blue-cloak

## Snapshot

A milkmaid whose old grievance against the farmer who wronged her curdles into a secret she must carry while befriending his young wife.

## Who they are

Rhoda Brook lives on the edge of Egdon Heath, milking cows and raising a son whom Farmer Lodge never acknowledged. When Gertrude, Lodge's new bride, seeks her out for help with a mysterious wound, Rhoda is drawn into a gruesome intimacy she cannot escape. Her dread of exposure and her buried resentment make every kindness she offers Gertrude feel like both penance and peril.

## In the story

### [Short Fiction](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/short-fiction)

A milkmaid involved in a supernatural encounter and social tension.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xvii)

Not present in this chapter.

### [The Withered Arm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/the-withered-arm)

A milkmaid and former lover of Farmer Lodge, she is the mother of his son and becomes entangled in a supernatural event that curses Gertrude.

### [I: A Lorn Milkmaid](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/i-a-lorn-milkmaid)

A thin, worn milkmaid who listens to gossip about Farmer Lodge's new bride; she is the mother of his son and instructs the boy to report on the new wife's looks.

### [II: The Young Wife](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/ii-the-young-wife)

The boy's mother, a milkmaid with a past connection to Farmer Lodge, who interrogates her son about Gertrude.

### [III: A Vision](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iii-a-vision)

Experiences a terrifying vision of Gertrude Lodge and later fears she may have unwittingly caused Gertrude's injury through supernatural means.

### [III: A Vision](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iii-a-vision)

The boy who first spoke to Gertrude in the road and accepted her offer of boots, facilitating the visit.

### [IV: A Suggestion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/iv-a-suggestion)

Rhoda is tormented by guilt and superstition after seeing the fingermarks on Gertrude's arm, which match her dream. She reluctantly agrees to guide Gertrude to Conjuror Trendle.

### [Conjuror Trendle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/v-conjuror-trendle)

Accompanies Gertrude to the conjuror, feels a strange fascination and later a sense of triumph; her face grows sadder and she eventually disappears from the neighborhood.

### [VI: A Second Attempt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vi-a-second-attempt)

Referenced indirectly; her story has become known to Gertrude, and her son is the boy Mr. Lodge once thought of adopting.

### [A Ride](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/vii-a-ride)

Though not directly present, Rhoda's earlier consultation with Trendle set the events in motion.

### [VIII: A Waterside Hermit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/viii-a-waterside-hermit)

Not directly present, but her earlier advice about the cure motivates Gertrude's actions.

### [IX: A Rencounter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/ix-a-rencounter)

Rhoda appears at the jail to claim the body of her executed son. She confronts Gertrude and her husband, expressing her grief and anger.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/rhoda_brook
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters