A Handful of Dust characters

Appears from the start

The owner of Hetton Abbey, a Victorian Gothic country house to which he is devoted. Tony is mild, conventional, and content with the routines of his estate, his club, and family life. His confidence that his marriage is secure leaves him slow to recognize Brenda's growing detachment.

Appears from the start

Tony's wife and the mistress of Hetton. Restless with country life, she is amused by the unremarkable John Beaver when he visits for a weekend and begins arranging reasons to spend more time in London.

Appears from the start

Tony and Brenda's young son. He is being brought up at Hetton, where his pony, lessons, and the adults' plans for him form part of the household routine.

Appears from the start

An impoverished and socially marginal young Londoner who survives by accepting invitations and following his mother's practical advice. He has little charm or distinction, but Brenda finds his very ordinariness novel when he is brought to Hetton as a spare guest.

Appears from the start

John Beaver's energetic mother, an interior decorator and property speculator with a sharp eye for social and financial advantage. She treats rooms, friendships, and her son's prospects as matters to be managed.

Appears from the start

A family friend of the Lasts and a familiar member of their social circle. He is more at ease with fashionable London life than Tony and is frequently present as Brenda's marriage begins to change.

First appears in chapter 2

A fashionable acquaintance whose parties and shifting enthusiasms help connect Brenda's new London existence with the wider society around it.

First appears in chapter 5

A professional explorer who recruits Tony for an expedition into the Brazilian interior. Messinger is convinced that an unknown city can be found and approaches the difficult journey with confidence in his maps and methods.

First appears in chapter 4

A young woman hired to help create evidence for Tony's uncontested divorce. She brings her daughter to the seaside arrangement, making the supposedly discreet performance awkward and conspicuous.

First appears in chapter 6

An elderly English settler living deep in the Brazilian forest with an extended local household. He shelters the exhausted Tony and is delighted to discover that his guest can read English novels aloud.