The Cider House Rules characters

Appears from the start

An orphan born at St. Cloud's, Maine, who is repeatedly placed with families but always returns. Observant, capable, and deeply attached to the only home that lasts, he grows from Dr. Larch's favored child into his medical apprentice.

Also known as Dr. Larch

Appears from the start

The physician who directs the St. Cloud's orphanage. He delivers unwanted children, arranges adoptions, and secretly provides abortions, regarding both kinds of care as parts of the same duty to women with few safe choices. Exacting but devoted to the children, he takes a special interest in Homer.

Appears from the start

One of the two senior nurses at St. Cloud's. Practical and protective, she assists Dr. Larch with births and the daily care of the orphanage while helping create the routines that make the institution a home.

Appears from the start

A senior nurse at St. Cloud's who works beside Nurse Angela and Dr. Larch. She combines medical competence with a maternal concern for the children and participates in the orphanage's nightly rituals.

First appears in chapter 2

An older girl at St. Cloud's who expects Homer to remain connected to her. Physically strong, suspicious of promises, and angry at being passed over for adoption, she treats his departures as personal betrayals.

First appears in chapter 3

A young woman from coastal Maine who comes to St. Cloud's with Wally Worthington for medical help. Warm, self-possessed, and closely tied to the Worthington family's orchard, she gives Homer his first sustained view of life beyond the orphanage.

First appears in chapter 3

Candy's boyfriend and the heir to Ocean View, his family's apple orchard. Confident, generous, and at ease in the world outside St. Cloud's, he befriends Homer and invites him to experience the harvest season on the coast.

First appears in chapter 4

Wally's mother and the capable head of the household at Ocean View. She welcomes Homer into the family orbit and manages the personal and practical demands of the orchard community.

First appears in chapter 4

Candy's father, a lobsterman with a direct manner and a firm place in the coastal community around Ocean View. He regards Homer with curiosity as the young man settles into orchard life.

First appears in chapter 6

The foreman of the migrant apple pickers who live in the Ocean View cider house during harvest. Skilled with a knife and accustomed to leading the crew, he expects the orchard owners to leave the workers' internal affairs to him.

First appears in chapter 6

Mr. Rose's daughter and a member of the seasonal picking crew. Quiet and guarded around outsiders, she lives in the cider house under her father's close authority.

First appears in chapter 8

A child brought from St. Cloud's into the Ocean View household. His arrival gives Homer, Candy, and Wally a shared responsibility while concealing a private history known only to the adults closest to him.