B. J. Harrison Reads A Room with a View characters

Appears from the start

A young Englishwoman visiting Florence under her older cousin's supervision. Lucy is observant, musically gifted, and receptive to experiences that do not fit the narrow rules she has been taught, though she initially relies on convention when deciding how to behave.

Appears from the start

Lucy's older cousin and chaperone in Italy. Charlotte is anxious about appearances and alert to any situation that might expose Lucy to gossip or create a social obligation. Her concern for propriety makes her suspicious of spontaneous kindness from strangers.

Appears from the start

An outspoken older English guest at the Pension Bertolini. Hearing Lucy and Charlotte complain that their rooms lack the promised view, he offers to exchange his and his son's rooms with theirs. His direct manner and disregard for polite evasions unsettle Charlotte.

Appears from the start

Mr. Emerson's quiet young son, a fellow guest at the Pension Bertolini. George appears troubled and withdrawn, and his father's unconventional openness draws attention to him before he has said much for himself.

Appears from the start

One of two elderly unmarried sisters staying at the Pension Bertolini. Miss Catharine Alan is conventional, sociable, and eager to exchange information about the other English visitors.

Appears from the start

Miss Catharine Alan's sister and companion at the Pension Bertolini. Like her sister, she belongs to the respectable circle of English tourists through which news, invitations, and judgments travel.

First appears in chapter 2

An English clergyman who knows the Honeychurch family and encounters Lucy in Florence. Genial and perceptive, he is less alarmed by the Emersons than Charlotte is and recognizes that Lucy's conventional upbringing does not account for all of her character.

First appears in chapter 2

A confident novelist and traveler staying at the Bertolini. Miss Lavish prides herself on escaping guidebook tourism and seeking an authentic Italy, and she quickly draws Lucy into an unsupervised walk through Florence.

First appears in chapter 5

The English chaplain in Florence, socially polished and protective of his authority as an interpreter of the city. He dislikes Mr. Emerson's opinions and treats the Emerson family as socially and morally suspect.

First appears in chapter 8

Lucy's cultured and self-conscious fiancé, accepted after she returns from Italy. Cecil admires Lucy but tends to imagine her as a refined work of art and feels superior to the relaxed manners of her family and their Surrey neighbors.

First appears in chapter 8

Lucy's warm, practical mother, who presides over Windy Corner with little interest in fashionable pretension. She loves her children, values neighborliness, and finds Cecil's reserve difficult to understand.

First appears in chapter 8

Lucy's energetic younger brother. Freddy is informal, physically active, and quick to offer friendship without weighing another person's social standing, a temperament sharply unlike Cecil's.

First appears in chapter 8

A local landowner near Windy Corner who has built a pair of villas for prospective tenants. Friendly and somewhat overbearing, Sir Harry consults the Honeychurch circle about whom he should bring into the neighborhood.