# Jim Thornthwaite — The Splendid Fairing character guide

> Jim Thornthwaite in The Splendid Fairing by Constance Holme.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Jim, Jim Thornthwaite, poor Jim

**First appearance:** 0023-part-iv-geordie-an-jim

## Snapshot

A big-voiced, teasing Thornthwaite who has been across the sea and comes back to Sandholes insisting it is still his little old home.

## Who they are

Jim walks into Sarah's kitchen uninvited, cheerfully immune to her curses, and announces he has news of Geordie. His easy, dominant presence fills the cobwebbed house like too heady a wine, and his old extorted freedom of board and hearth lets him past every door Sarah tries to close. His arrival forces the family's buried questions about Geordie into the open.

## Relationships

### [Sarah Thornthwaite](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_fairing_se/characters/sarah_thornthwaite)

_family_

Jim is Sarah's father, a stern but caring figure who often worries about her future.

### [Sarah Thornthwaite](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_fairing_se/characters/sarah_thornthwaite)

_family_

Jim is Sarah's father, a stern but caring figure who often worries about her future.

## In the story

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

Mentioned as a former suitor of May; also a failure in Canada; Sarah disliked him.

### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_fairing_se/chapters/vi)

Jim is Will and Eliza's son who went to Canada with Geordie and was always attached to Sarah.

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

Eliza's son, cast off by his mother and increasingly seen as Simon's son; deeply attached to Sarah.

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

Mentioned as estranged after Eliza wrote him a letter; Will laments losing his eldest son.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_fairing_se/chapters/vi)

Jim is mentioned as the subject of Eliza's grief and suspicion; she believes Geordie has harmed him.

### [Part IV: Geordie-an’-Jim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_fairing_se/chapters/part-iv-geordie-an-jim)

Closely linked to Geordie, their story is explored together.

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

Jim is briefly mentioned as having given Sarah fairings too, but she tries not to remember them.

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

Returns to Sandholes after twenty years, now wealthy, seeking affection from Sarah but is rebuffed.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_fairing_se/characters/jim_thornthwaite
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_fairing_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_splendid_fairing_se/characters