Minor Characters
Lavinia Warren Thumb
Lavinia Warren Thumb is a historical character. In the novel, Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish invites Thumb to perform at a party alongside Harry Houdini. Born with dwarfism, Lavinia Warren Thumb had a successful career as a circus performer with P. T. Barnum in the 19th century.
Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman is a historical character. Emma Goldman tells Evelyn Nesbit about her romantic and political history with Berkman—who was imprisoned for 14 years following an attempt to assassinate Henry Clay Frick—in an effort to create sympathy between herself and the younger woman.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand is a historical character who crosses paths with Harry Houdini during one of Houdini’s European tours. The Archduke is heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne whose assassination instigates World War I.
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick is a historical figure who appears in stories Emma Goldman tells Evelyn Nesbit about Alexander Berkman. When Frick violently intervened against a steelworkers’ strike in the early 1890s, Berkman attempted to assassinate him.
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata is a historical figure and Mexican revolutionary respected by Emma Goldman. Younger Brother travels to Mexico and joins Zapata’s insurgent army following Coalhouse Walker Jr.’s death. Zapata was assassinated at the behest of the Mexican government in 1909.
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud is a historical figure who crosses paths with Mameh, Tateh, and Little Girl in New York while he’s in American on a lecture tour. Freud is an Austrian physician whose psychological theories had a strong influence on psychology in the 20th century.
Baby (Coalhouse Walker III)
Coalhouse Walker III is the baby of Coalhouse Walker Jr. and Sarah. Mother finds the baby in her garden after Sarah, due to unspecified personal hardships, attempts to abandon him after giving birth in New Rochelle. Following her discovery, Mother shelters Sarah and the baby in her home.