Quail Crossings – Characters

SPOILERS!!!

These are the characters in the novel for further reference:

• Dovie Grant (32) lives with her father on Quail Crossings, the family farm. Dovie lost her husband, Simon, and her five-year-old daughter, Helen, on St Valentine’s Day when they had an accident on their way to a dance. Dovie wasn’t with them because she had a migraine. Dovie is still mourning them, and when her father brings the Brewers to the house, she is all against it, but little by little she is won over by this good family.
• James Murphy is Dovie’s father. He is an honest man with a golden heart. When he meets Bill Brewer and his siblings in the local café, he can’t ignore them and offers Bill a job on the farm. James grows fond of Bill and his siblings, and at the end of the book he considers them part of his family and offers Bill fifty percent of the farm.
• Bill Brewer (18) is a young man who finds himself in charge of his siblings when their parents move to California and leave the children behind. For months Bill moved from place to place, using his truck as a mobile home for his family. Thanks to James’s generosity, Bill gets a good job and a place where his siblings can be safe. Bill falls in love with Lou Ann Garber and they marry at the end of the book.
• Alice Brewer (6) is Bill’s youngest sister. Alice is sweet and determined, and everybody loves her. She manages to melt Dovie’s heart and even get to tame Norman, the terrible goose that terrifies everybody. Alice is caught in the terrible dust storm at the end of the book, but she is clever and manages to find shelter for her and Mr Norman in a closet in the new house Bill is building.
• Elmer Brewer (10) is Bill’s brother. He is quite shy and quiet, but as he gradually settles down in Quail Crossings and enjoys life there, he starts to be more open. Elmer learns to hunt from James, and the old man also gives him the responsibility of training the new puppies. Elmer gets influenza and the family fear for his life at some point but he recovers. He and Tiny Clark become friends and they decided that they want to be boyfriend and girlfriend.
• Evalyn Brewer (Evie) (14) is Bill’s older sister. Evalyn is contrary and hostile, especially towards Dovie. Evie is the only one who thinks that they could find their parents. So she does everything to get Bill fired so they can move to California. Her last attempt was to trick Alice into believing that their parents wanted them to move to California with them. When Alice is caught in the dust storm because of Evie’s lies, the older girl gets very upset and she swears she will be happy living in Quail Crossings.
• Lou Ann Garber (17) is the girl Bill falls in love with and eventually marries. Lou Ann is very sweet and kind, but her
• Charlotte Wheaten used to be Lou Ann’s best friend, but when Bill appears, she gets obsessed with him and does everything to trap him. She is wicked and during the fair she spooks the horse pulling form the cart by throwing a stone, and the cart is overturned. Then she blackmails Lou Ann, saying that she will get Bill fired.
• Sara Clark lives in a farm nearby and is a good friend to Dovie.
• Tiny Clark is Sara’s eldest daughter. Tiny is determined, energetic and a chatterbox. She and Elmer eventually become inseparable.
• Joan Garber is Lou Ann’s sister and Alice’s best friend.
• Harriet Wheaten is Charlotte’s younger sister. She and Evalyn become friends and allies in their mischief.
• Hannah Garber is Lou Ann’s mother.
• David Garber is Lou Anna’s father. He is a bully and hits his wife and children. James and Bill warn him that if he touches his family again, they will make sure that he doesn’t do it again.
• Mrs Spaulding is Alice’s teacher and the minister’s wife.
• Pastor Spaulding is the local priest.
• Junior Clark is Tiny’s brother.
• Bud Clark (8) is Sara’s son.
• Ruth Clark is Sarah’s baby.
• Simon Grant was Dovie’s husband.
• Charles Garber (2) is Lou Ann’s baby brother. He also suffers from influenza when Elmer gets sick.
• George Wheaten is another farmer in the area.
• Annette is the owner of the local café.