Bliss & Other Stories characters

Appears from the start

A young mother in the Burnell household, recently moved to a country home. Sensitive and inward-looking, she feels burdened by family demands and oddly detached from the baby she is expected to adore.

Appears from the start

Linda's energetic, self-important husband. He takes satisfaction in directing the family's move and expects domestic life to organize itself around his comfort and authority.

Also known as Beryl

Appears from the start

Linda's unmarried sister, who lives with the Burnells. She longs for romance and independence while remaining conscious of the role she performs within the household.

First appears in chapter 3

A young, affluent London wife and mother seized by an intense sense that her life is perfectly happy. While preparing a dinner party, she treats the evening's people and objects as parts of a private vision of harmony.

First appears in chapter 3

Bertha's husband, brisk and socially confident. He shares her prosperous home and circle of fashionable friends but responds more impatiently to people she finds fascinating.

First appears in chapter 3

A reserved, striking guest at the Youngs' dinner party. Bertha feels an immediate, almost wordless intimacy with her and imagines that Pearl understands the same private emotional revelation.

Also known as Matilda

First appears in chapter 4

A girl moving through a windy day between music lessons, family tensions, and powerful changes of mood. Ordinary streets and remembered moments take on an overwhelming emotional intensity for her.

First appears in chapter 6

An aging, impoverished singer in London who searches each day for a small acting engagement. Hungry and behind on her rent, she maintains a professional manner while moving between agents, cafés, and memories of better circumstances.

Also known as Mr. Salesby

First appears in chapter 7

An Englishman staying at a Mediterranean hotel with his chronically ill wife. Other guests read his controlled manner as coldness, though his restraint is closely tied to the ceaseless care his marriage requires.

First appears in chapter 8

A professional singer and music teacher who regards himself as an exceptional artist. His elaborate self-image contrasts with the routine complaints and needs of his wife and children.

First appears in chapter 10

An extremely shy young painter living alone in Paris. He watches other people's lives from a distance and builds a romantic fantasy around a young woman he repeatedly sees from his window.

First appears in chapter 11

A woman traveling alone who unexpectedly meets a man she once loved. Her independence, taste, and experience abroad make her seem transformed from the younger woman he remembers.

First appears in chapter 12

A young Englishwoman taking her first position as a governess abroad. Inexperienced and anxious to appear capable, she travels alone to her employer and tries to follow the warnings she has been given about unfamiliar men.

First appears in chapter 13

A wealthy, fashionable woman exhausted by her marriage and social obligations. A visit to her dressmaker briefly opens a space in which she confronts emotions normally hidden beneath luxury and routine.