The Pursuit of Love characters

Appears from the start

The narrator, a cousin of the Radlett children who spends much of her youth at Alconleigh. Abandoned by the mother the family calls the Bolter, Fanny grows up observant and cautious, measuring Linda's romantic adventures against her own desire for stability.

Appears from the start

Fanny's beautiful, excitable cousin and closest childhood friend. Raised in the confined world of Alconleigh, Linda longs for overwhelming love and treats marriage as the likely entrance to a larger, more passionate life.

Appears from the start

Linda's formidable father and Fanny's uncle. A retired soldier, he rules Alconleigh through roaring opinions, distrust of foreigners and education, and elaborate country pursuits, yet his family also knows the deep loyalty beneath his temper.

Also known as Aunt Sadie

Appears from the start

Linda's calm, affectionate mother. She manages her large family and her husband's eruptions with an ease that can look passive, providing Alconleigh with its emotional steadiness.

Also known as The Bolter

Appears from the start

Fanny's mother, famous in the family for repeatedly leaving husbands and pursuing new attachments. Her absence shapes Fanny's wary view of romance long before she again becomes directly involved in her daughter's life.

Also known as Uncle Davey

Appears from the start

A devoted family friend and eventual husband of Fanny's Aunt Emily. Intelligent, kind, and consumed by anxieties about his health, he brings both worldly judgment and an endless succession of treatments to Alconleigh life.

Appears from the start

The eldest Radlett daughter. More practical than Linda, she is the first sister to move decisively into adult life, giving the younger girls a model of courtship and escape from Alconleigh.

Appears from the start

One of Linda's younger sisters, resourceful and intent on controlling her own future. She saves money in a running-away fund and watches her elder sisters' choices without sharing all of their illusions.

First appears in chapter 6

A wealthy young banker whom Linda meets as she becomes desperate to leave Alconleigh. Handsome and socially suitable, he represents adult sophistication to her despite the political and temperamental differences between them.

First appears in chapter 11

An earnest communist organizer whose political commitment attracts Linda after her first marriage has become intolerable. His work among refugees and his indifference to conventional comfort offer her another vision of a meaningful life.

First appears in chapter 13

A capable humanitarian worker whom Linda encounters while helping refugees from the Spanish Civil War. Her competence and shared ideals make her an important colleague to both Linda and Christian.

First appears in chapter 15

A wealthy French duke who meets Linda in Paris when she is stranded and unhappy. Attentive, self-assured, and already embedded in a complicated private life, he offers her both material security and the romantic intensity she has long pursued.