Brooklyn Follies characters

Appears from the start

A retired insurance salesman in his late fifties who moves to Brooklyn after cancer treatment and a painful divorce. Estranged from much of his family and expecting little from his remaining life, he begins compiling a private record of mistakes, accidents, and humiliations. His dry self-scrutiny gradually gives way to renewed involvement with relatives, neighbors, and strangers.

First appears in chapter 3

Nathan's nephew, once a promising graduate student studying American literature and now working in a used-book shop. Intelligent and gentle but stalled after abandoning his academic ambitions, he has become isolated from his mother and from his sister Aurora. His chance reunion with Nathan draws both men back into family life.

Also known as Harry Dunkel

First appears in chapter 4

The charismatic owner of Brightman's Attic, the Brooklyn bookstore where Tom works. Warm, theatrical, and attentive to damaged people, he has remade himself after a troubled career in the art trade. He quickly welcomes Nathan into the small community surrounding the shop.

First appears in chapter 17

Tom's young niece and Aurora's daughter. She arrives in Brooklyn alone and refuses to speak, communicating her wishes through gestures and written messages. Watchful, stubborn, and resourceful, she forces Nathan and Tom to confront the disappearance of her mother.

First appears in chapter 8

Tom's younger sister and Lucy's mother. Once rebellious and musically gifted, she has become separated from her family after marrying David Minor and entering his strict religious world. Her long silence is a source of worry that becomes urgent when Lucy appears without her.

First appears in chapter 9

Aurora's husband and Lucy's father, a religious extremist whose authority has cut Aurora off from her relatives. Nathan and Tom know him initially through the damage and uncertainty surrounding Aurora's disappearance.

First appears in chapter 2

Nathan's adult daughter. Their relationship has been strained by his failures as a husband and father, but his move to Brooklyn and new willingness to acknowledge those failures create an opening for contact.

First appears in chapter 2

A waitress at the Brooklyn diner Nathan frequents. Her everyday kindness and beauty become the focus of his romantic imagination as he begins paying attention to life beyond his illness and regrets.

First appears in chapter 27

The daughter of the Vermont innkeepers who shelter Nathan, Tom, and Lucy when their car breaks down. Direct, capable, and rooted in the life of the inn, she forms an immediate connection with Tom.

First appears in chapter 11

A Jamaican-born young man close to Harry. Handsome and aspiring to perform, he is part of Harry's private life and depends on the older man's affection and support.

First appears in chapter 39

A dangerous figure from Harry's past who knows the history behind Harry's new identity and business. His appearance threatens both the bookseller's security and the people Harry has drawn into his plans.

First appears in chapter 27

Honey's father and the proprietor of a small Vermont inn. Hospitable and practical, he takes in Nathan, Tom, and Lucy after their car trouble interrupts the journey north.