Girl, Woman, Other

by

Bernardine Evaristo

Girl, Woman, Other Characters

Amma

Amma is Yazz’s mother and Dominque’s best friend. Amma grew up with her father, Kwabena, a Ghanian journalist who was forced to immigrate to the UK after campaigning for the independence movement… read analysis of Amma

Yazz

Yazz is Amma and Roland’s daughter. She relentlessly criticizes her parents for what they believe are their progressive beliefs, but that Yazz sees as out of touch. Yazz has inherited her family’s revolutionary spirit… read analysis of Yazz

Dominique

Dominique is Amma’s best friend. Her parents, Cecilia and Wintley, are both Guyanese immigrants. Dominique leaves home at sixteen to move to London, where she can live openly as a lesbian and pursue… read analysis of Dominique

Carole Williams

Carole experiences poverty in her childhood; she and her Nigerian immigrant mother, Bummi, live in public housing. Growing up, Carole is a good student and is uninterested in boys or parties. Everything changes when… read analysis of Carole Williams

Bummi Williams

Bummi is Carole’s mother and Augustine’s wife. Bummi was born in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, in a town destroyed by foreign oil companies. Her early life is marked by significant tragedy and hardship… read analysis of Bummi Williams
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LaTisha Jones

LaTisha is Carole’s childhood best friend. Unbeknownst to LaTisha, Trey and some of his friends sexually assault Carole at a house party that LaTisha throws in year nine. In a tragic twist of fate… read analysis of LaTisha Jones

Shirley King

Shirley is Amma’s oldest friend, and the daughter of Barbadian immigrants, Winsome and Clovis. Shirley has always been more conservative than Amma, and in her work as a teacher, she acts as a… read analysis of Shirley King

Winsome Robinson

Winsome is Shirley’s mother and Clovis’s wife. As first-generation Barbadian immigrants, Winsome and Clovis have made immense sacrifices so that their English-born children could find success and opportunity in England. Winsome meets Clovis… read analysis of Winsome Robinson

Penelope Halifax/Barbara

Penelope Halifax is Shirley’s coworker at the Peckham School. Penelope is old and jaded, and she regards the students with open hostility. Her low expectations for them are grounded in her racist beliefs about… read analysis of Penelope Halifax/Barbara

Megan/Morgan Malinga

Morgan is Julie and Chimongo’s daughter and Hattie’s great-grandchild. Morgan, who was born Megan, was always a tomboy but their mother forced femininity onto them. Morgan’s fraught relationship with their mother illustrates how… read analysis of Megan/Morgan Malinga

Hattie “GG” Jackson

Hattie grew up on Greenfields Farmhouse, the only child of her mother, Grace, and father Joseph Rydendale. At 14, Hattie gets pregnant and gives birth to a baby girl who she names… read analysis of Hattie “GG” Jackson

Grace

Grace is Hattie’s mother and Joseph Rydendale’s wife. She grows up not knowing her father, Wolde’s, identity, and this haunts her for her entire life. After Grace’s mother dies of tuberculosis when… read analysis of Grace

Roland Quartey

Roland is Amma’s co-parent and Yazz’s father. Roland is a professor and author who has found mainstream success as a major television news personality. The son of African immigrants, Roland decides early on… read analysis of Roland Quartey

Sylvester

Sylvester is one of Amma’s oldest friends. Sylvester is queer and used to go by the name Sylvie. He wore dresses and had long hair, proudly challenging gender norms alongside his partner, Curwenread analysis of Sylvester

Waris

Waris is one of Yazz’s three best friends. The friends call themselves “The Unfuckables.” Waris is the daughter of Somali immigrants who fled the country’s civil war. She wears a hijab as a political statement… read analysis of Waris

Courtney

Courtney is one of Yazz’s three best friends that make up her squad, “The Unfuckables.” A white girl who experienced poverty growing up on her family’s farm in a rural community, Courtney is woefully ignorant… read analysis of Courtney

Nenet

Nenet is one of Yazz’s three best friends that make up her squad, “The Unfuckables.” Nenet is Egyptian and has a boyfriend to whom she’s arranged to be married. Much to Waris’s frustration… read analysis of Nenet

Nzinga

Nzinga is Dominique’s abusive girlfriend. Nzinga’s abusive personality is a direct result of the devastating abuse and neglect she suffered as a child growing up in Texas. Nzinga is stopping over in London on… read analysis of Nzinga

Augustine Williams

Augustine is Carole’s father and Bummi’s husband. Augustine came from a progressive Nigerian family who readily accepted Bummi when Augustine brought her home, regardless of the fact that she was poor and without… read analysis of Augustine Williams

Lennox King

Lennox is Shirley’s husband and Rachel and Karen’s dad. He is a doting and supportive husband who treats his wife as his equal. When they have kids, he’s an involved and caring father… read analysis of Lennox King

Clovis

Clovis is Winsome’s husband and Shirley’s father. An immigrant from Barbados, Clovis meets and marries Winsome not long after her arrival in England. The marriage gives Winsome safety and comfort in the early… read analysis of Clovis

Kwabena

Kwabena is Amma’s father and Helen’s husband. Kwabena, a journalist from Ghana, was forced to flee his homeland after advocating for the country’s independence. He met Helen after migrating to the UK. Kwabena… read analysis of Kwabena

Helen

Helen is Amma’s mother and Kwabena’s wife. Born in 1935, Helen is biracial and faced intense racism growing up in a small, Scottish city. She escapes to London where she meets and eventually… read analysis of Helen

Freddy

Freddy is Carole’s white husband from a privileged background. His parents harbor racist views and were shocked when he announced he was marrying a Black woman from a lower-class background. Despite his best intentions… read analysis of Freddy

Iyatunde

Iyatunde is Bummi’s mother and Moses’s wife. When Moses dies, Iyatunde and Bummi are forced to live with Iyatunde’s parents. When her father intends to marry Bummi off as soon as possible, Iyatunde… read analysis of Iyatunde

Trey

Trey grew up in the same neighborhood as Carole and LaTisha. He is in college when he shows up at teenage LaTisha’s house party and sexually assaults Carole. Years later, he asks LaTisha out… read analysis of Trey

Glenmore Jones

Glenmore is LaTisha’s father. He upends her world when he abandons his family to go live in the U.S. with one of Pauline’s friends, with whom he has a secret second family. Glenmore… read analysis of Glenmore Jones

Pauline Jones

Pauline is LaTisha and Jayla’s mother. Her husband, Glenmore, cheats on her with one of her friends and later abandons his and Pauline’s children. Pauline is a social worker, but when LaTisha starts… read analysis of Pauline Jones

Jordan Jones

Jordan is LaTisha’s 10-year-old son. The youngest child, Jordan takes after his father, Trey, and is already a troublemaker. When LaTisha’s estranged father, Glenmore, shows back up in their lives, Jordan takes… read analysis of Jordan Jones

Jayla Jones

Jayla is LaTisha’s sister and Pauline’s daughter. Sometime after their father, Glenmore, leaves, Pauline reveals that Jayla has a different dad, which explains why Glenmore always favored LaTisha. Against all advice, Jayla… read analysis of Jayla Jones

Margaret

Margaret is Penelope’s mother and Edwin’s wife. When she was young her family migrated to the Union of South Africa to take advantage of a 1913 law that distributed 80 percent of South… read analysis of Margaret

Giles

Giles is Penelope’s first husband and Adam and Sarah’s father. Penelope meets Giles in high school, shortly after she’s crushed by the revelation that she’s adopted; she leans on him for emotional support… read analysis of Giles

Phillip

Phillip is Penelope’s second husband. She meets him shortly after her breakup with Giles and falls in love quickly, largely due to their sexual chemistry. Phillip is a psychologist, which is what eventually begins… read analysis of Phillip

Sarah

Sarah is Penelope’s daughter who moves to Australia. This breaks Penelope’s heart because, even though she often complained about her raucous grandkids, she realizes she’ll miss them when they’re gone. Like her brother, Adamread analysis of Sarah

Julie

Julie is Morgan’s mother and Hattie’s granddaughter. Julie’s family was outraged when she brought a Malawian man, Chimongo, home, because by that point, the family could pass as white. Hattie is the… read analysis of Julie

Chimongo

Chimongo is Morgan’s father and Julie’s husband. He doesn’t turn away when Julie’s white-passing family objects to her marrying a Black man, and he eventually wins them over. His story highlights how interracial… read analysis of Chimongo

Bibi

Bibi is Morgan’s long-term partner who introduced them to the transgender community after connecting in an online chat room. Bibi is a transgender woman whose Indian family has disowned her, highlighting how second-generation children… read analysis of Bibi

Daisy

Daisy is Grace’s mother and Hattie’s great-grandmother. Daisy was 16 when she got pregnant by Wolde, an Ethiopian seaman who stopped over in her coastal, English town. He promises to return, and… read analysis of Daisy

Slim Jackson

Slim is Hattie’s husband and Ada Mae and Sonny’s father. Slim is an African American man from Georgia. When Slim and Hattie marry, he’s happy to leave the United States behind for good… read analysis of Slim Jackson

Ada Mae

Ada Mae is Hattie and Slim’s daughter. She is named after Slim’s mother. Like her brother, Sonny, Ada Mae’s childhood was fraught with hostile and racist bullying that she internalizes until she hates… read analysis of Ada Mae

Sonny

Sonny is Hattie and Slim’s son. He is named after Slim’s brother, who was lynched back in the United States,. This namesake conflicts with Sonny’s desire to distance himself from his racial identity. Sonny… read analysis of Sonny

Wolde

Wolde is Grace’s father, though she never knew him. An Ethiopian seaman, Wolde met Grace’s mother, Daisy, when he was stopped over in England. Before he departs, he promises Grace—who, unbeknownst to Grace… read analysis of Wolde

Joseph Rydendale

Joseph Rydendale is Grace’s husband and Hattie’s father. Joseph is descended from Captain Linnaeus Rydendale, a slave runner who used his wealth to found Greenfields. Although Joseph falls in love with… read analysis of Joseph Rydendale

Captain Linnaeus Rydendale

Captain Linnaeus Rydendale is the founder of Greenfields and one of Hattie’s ancestors. He was a slave runner, a fact that Hattie’s father evidently wanted to keep this a secret from her. Rydendale was married… read analysis of Captain Linnaeus Rydendale

Xaanan

Xaanan is Waris’s mother. She’s a Somali immigrant who fled to London at the outset of the Somali civil war. She splits her time between teaching martial arts and working at a refuge for… read analysis of Xaanan
Minor Characters
Eudoré
– Eudoré is Captain Linnaeus Rydendale’s wife who was rumored to be Spanish. She’s the daughter of merchant Rydendale conducted business with in Jamaica. When Slim sees a picture of Eudoré decades later, he tells Hattie that he’s certain she was Black, and Hattie thinks he might be right.
Laverne
Laverne is Dominique’s wife. A fellow survivor of domestic abuse, they met at a support group. They live in Los Angeles and parent their adopted twins.
Gaia
Gaia is the woman who owns the Spirit Moon women’s commune where Dominque lives with Nzinga when they first move to the U.S. Gaia ultimately helps Dominique escape the commune and Nzinga’s abuse.
Cecilia
Cecilia is Dominique’s mother; she’s a Guyanese immigrant.
Wintley
Wintley is Dominique’s father; he’s an Indo-Guyanese immigrant.
Dolores
Dolores is Amma’s partner of seven years. They are in a polyamorous triad with Jackie. Dolores is white and a graphic designer.
Jackie
Jackie is Amma’s partner of three years. They are in a polyamorous triad with Dolores. She is white and an occupational therapist.
Mabel, Olivine, Katrina, and Lakshmi
Mabel, Olivine, Katrina, and Lakshmi are Amma’s close group of friends. Amma criticizes them for each having sold out in their own ways as they entered middle-age.
Georgie
Georgie is Amma’s friend. Georgie struggles with substance abuse and dating. When he dies, likely by suicide, Amma feels guilty.
Curwen
Curwen is Sylvester’s partner.
Kenny
Kenny is Roland’s partner.
Moses
Moses is Bummi’s father who died while illegally refining oil in the Niger Delta. His family disowns Bummi and her mother, Iyatunde, after his death.
Aunty Ekio
Aunty Ekio is Bummi’s distant cousin who takes her in after Iyatunde dies. She is a wealthy, mean, and demanding woman who makes Bummi work hard as her house-servant in exchange for housing and education.
Bishop Aderami Obi
Bishop Aderami Obi is the bishop of Bummi’s church who gives her a cash loan to start her cleaning business in exchange for sex.
Sister Omofe
Sister Omofe is one of the women who works for Bummi at her cleaning company. They become close friends and eventually share a passionate, secret love affair. Once Bummi ends things, Sister Omofe starts dating another woman from church, leaving Bummi jealous.
Kofi
Kofi is a Ghanian man who worked for Bummi’s cleaning company and eventually becomes her long-term boyfriend.
Aunty Angie
Angie is LaTisha’s aunt who moves in to help Pauline after Glenmore abandons the family.
Jason Jones
Jason is LaTisha’s 12-year-old son.
Jantelle Jones
Jantelle is LaTisha’s 11-year-old daughter.
Dwight
Dwight is the father of LaTisha’s first child, Jason.
Mark
Mark is the father of LaTisha’s second child, Jantelle.
Rachel
Rachel is Shirley and Lennox’s daughter and Winsome’s granddaughter who, to her delight, takes interest in her life story.
Madison
Madison is Rachel’s daughter, Shirley’s granddaughter, and Winsome’s great-granddaughter.
Karen
Karen is Shirley and Lennox’s daughter and Winsome’s granddaughter.
Tony
Tony is Shirley’s brother and Winsome and Clovis’s son.
Errol
Errol is Shirley’s brother and Winsome and Clovis’s son.
Adam
Adam is Penelope’s son who moves to Texas after graduating from college. He never visits his mother. His father, Giles, is his favorite parent, because Giles paid for all his university expenses.
Mark
Mark is Morgan’s brother and Hattie’s great-grandson.
Edwin
Edwin is Penelope’s father and Margaret’s wife. Edwin was a surveyor born in England; he lived his life according to a strict and predictable routine.
Jeremy Sanders
Jeremy is Penelope’s partner later in life. Penelope ignores Jeremy’s flaws, namely his sexism, to keep the peace and enjoy their life together.
Great Aunt Myrtle
Lennox's great aunt, who lives in Harlem. His parents send him to live with Aunt Myrtle while they get themselves establishes in the U.K. Aunt Myrtle stresses to Lennox that school and knowledge are the keys to building a better life, which is a lesson that he internalizes.