Foster characters

Also known as the girl

Appears from the start

The unnamed young narrator, one of several children in a poor rural family. Quiet and watchful, she is sent to stay with distant relatives while her mother prepares for another birth. She arrives with little information about how long she will remain and is accustomed to scarcity, disorder, and adults withholding explanations.

Also known as Mrs. Kinsella

Appears from the start

The woman who takes the narrator into her home for the summer. Edna meets the neglected child with practical tenderness, bathing and clothing her without humiliation. Her ordered household and willingness to answer questions give the girl a kind of attention she has rarely received.

Also known as Mr. Kinsella, Kinsella

Appears from the start

Edna’s husband, a reserved farmer who initially seems less approachable than his wife. His care appears through work, routine, and small acts of trust. As the girl helps him around the farm, his quiet companionship becomes central to her sense of belonging.

Also known as Da

Appears from the start

The narrator’s father, who drives her to the Kinsellas and leaves without providing adequate clothes or a clear date for her return. His gambling, carelessness, and dismissive manner are familiar parts of the unstable home from which she comes.

Also known as Mam

Appears from the start

The narrator’s pregnant mother, managing a large household with little money or help. She sends the girl away to the Kinsellas until the new baby is born. Although largely absent from the summer narrative, the conditions of her home shape what the child notices in the foster household.

First appears in chapter 4

A talkative neighbor of the Kinsellas who questions the narrator closely when she has the child alone. Her interest crosses into gossip, and she tells the girl about a painful event in the Kinsellas’ past that Edna and John had not chosen to disclose.