Character guide

Gilliatt

major

Also known as Captain Gilliatt, Safe Gilliatt, Malicious Gilliatt, the Horse Gilliatt

Gilliatt lives apart from St. Sampson's gossip, and the gossip repays him with suspicion: stones he arranged, a house he passed, a name linked to the King of the Auxcriniers. Yet his hands know the sea and his mind knows machines, and he watches Déruchette with a devotion no one suspects. When the island's one great enterprise is wrecked, the man everyone distrusts becomes the man everyone must depend on.

Mess Lethierry

major

Also known as Lethierry, Mess, Miss Lethierry

Lethierry is a weather-beaten, broad-shouldered man who bends before neither wave nor neighbor, a peasant who has read Diderot and trusts the sea more than any parson. His pride is the Durande, the steamer he willed into being against every skeptic on the island, and his tenderness is Déruchette, the niece he raised like a daughter. When his fortunes and his ship are threatened, his obstinacy becomes both his glory and his danger.

Déruchette

major

Also known as Miss Déruchette, Bonnie Dundee, Durande Déruchette Lethierry

Déruchette flits through her uncle's house like a goldfinch, chirping and singing, adored by Lethierry and watched from afar by Gilliatt. She is kind, uncalculating, and largely unaware of the depths of feeling she stirs in the men around her. Her choice, when it comes, will quietly decide the fates of everyone who loves her.

Captain Clubin

major

Also known as Clubin, Sieur Clubin, Jean Auberge Sieur Clubin, Mess Clubin, Monsieur Clubin

Clubin keeps the Jean Auberge, commands Lethierry's steamer, and is trusted by everyone who knows him, which is precisely the advantage he has spent years cultivating. He speaks gently, moves carefully, and holds a revolver as easily as a pipe; his meeting with the fugitive Rantaine on a lonely Breton rock reveals a mind that has already priced every loyalty. His secret designs on the Durande will set the novel's central catastrophe in motion.

Rantaine

supporting

Also known as that scoundrel Rantaine

Rantaine once shared Lethierry's ventures before vanishing with a stolen sum that ruined his partner's trust in men. Now he skulks along the Breton coast in false whiskers and gaiters, paying a smuggler captain for passage to escape the law. His midnight encounter with Clubin on the rocks near St. Enogat exposes the captain's true nature and plants the seed of the disaster to come.

Rev. Mr. Caudray

supporting

Also known as Caudray, Joseph Ebenezer Caudray, M. Caudray, the Rev. Ebenezer Caudray

Caudray is a fresh-faced minister whose mild manners and sincere vocation set him apart from the island's rougher sailors and gossips. He is drawn into the Lethierry household, where Déruchette's brightness and his own youthful heart begin to answer each other. His presence turns Gilliatt's private love into a contest the fisherman never asked to enter.

Tangrouille

supporting

Also known as the unlucky Tangrouille, the steersman Tangrouille

Tangrouille keeps his rum and gin in a hiding-place in the hold, convinced no one knows of it, and steals down nearly every night for furtive draughts under Captain Clubin's strict, sober eye. On the eve of departure he finds an unexpected bottle of brandy, drinks it all to destroy the evidence, and takes the helm the next morning with a slight oscillation of the body. His frailty is the human crack through which the story's disaster enters.

Sieur Landoys

minor

Also known as Landoys

A local notable and occasional character in the Guernsey community.

M. Gertrais-Gaboureau

minor

Also known as Captain Gertrais, Captain Gertrais-Gaboureau, Old Captain Gertrais-Gaboureau

A local captain and acquaintance of Lethierry.

Grace

minor

A minor female character mentioned in the narrative.

The Stranger

minor

Also known as the stranger

A mysterious figure observed by Clubin at the inn.

Reverend Jaquemin Hérode

minor

Also known as the Reverend Jaquemin, the Reverend Jaquemin Hérode, Doctor Jaquemin Hérode, Doctor Hérode, M. Jaquemin Hérode, M. Hérode

A local clergyman and minor character in the community.

Captain Zuela

minor

Also known as Zuela

A captain mentioned in passing during maritime discussions.

Douce

minor

A servant or minor female character in the household.

Blasquito

minor

Also known as Blasquito vendra, El Blasquito

A Spanish or foreign sailor mentioned in the narrative.

Imbrancam

minor

A minor character or name mentioned in the story.

Cashmere

minor

Also known as the Cashmere

A sloop that plays a role in the story's maritime events.

The Man Rock

minor

Also known as The Man Rock, The Man

A rock formation personified in the narrative.

Gillian

minor

A minor character possibly related to Gilliatt.

Captain of the Shealtiel

minor

Also known as the captain of the Shealtiel

The unnamed captain of the ship Shealtiel.

Satan

minor

Also known as Satan Caesar, Caesar

A dog owned by a character, mentioned briefly.

Rebekah

minor

Also known as Rebecca

A biblical name referenced in the narrative.

Duguay-Trouin

minor

Also known as Duguay Trouin

A historical French privateer mentioned in passing.

Jean Bart

minor

Also known as old Jean Bart

A historical French naval commander mentioned in the text.

Lise

minor

Also known as Lisette, Lisa, Betsy, Elizabeth

A minor female character or name variant.

Vesin Brovard

minor

A minor character mentioned in the narrative.

Monsieur Rébuchet

minor

A local figure mentioned in the story.