A Judgement In Stone characters

Appears from the start

A solitary, emotionally guarded woman hired as housekeeper at Lowfield Hall. She has spent her life concealing that she cannot read or write, using memorized routines and avoidance to keep others from discovering it. The opening identifies both her secret and her responsibility for the Coverdale family's deaths; the story then traces how those facts become connected.

Appears from the start

The prosperous owner of Lowfield Hall, a practical and generally considerate employer who hires Eunice to bring order to his busy household. His confidence that directness and goodwill can solve domestic problems leaves him slow to understand the depth of Eunice's fear and resentment.

Appears from the start

George's second wife, energetic, sociable, and accustomed to involving herself in other people's welfare. She appreciates Eunice's efficiency but cannot resist trying to draw her into the family's life, interpreting withdrawal as a problem that tact and kindness can repair.

First appears in chapter 2

George's university-age daughter, intellectually curious and politically outspoken. She visits Lowfield Hall from London and treats Eunice with an informality that is meant to be friendly, though her questions and assumptions make the housekeeper uncomfortable.

First appears in chapter 2

Jacqueline's son and George's stepson, a young man whose visits complete the blended Coverdale household. More reserved than Melinda, he nonetheless shares the family's expectation that Eunice should participate in ordinary conversation and domestic life.

First appears in chapter 8

A local shop worker and fervent evangelical Christian who befriends Eunice. Joan is talkative, intrusive, and eager to interpret everyday events as signs of sin or salvation. Her companionship offers Eunice an unusual escape from isolation while also drawing her toward increasingly hostile judgments of the Coverdales.

First appears in chapter 3

The Coverdales' former domestic help, whose knowledge of Lowfield Hall and its routines provides a contrast with Eunice's rigid privacy. She remains part of the local network through which impressions of the household and its new employee circulate.