St Offraed’s Relic main characters overview
The main characters of the novel are the members of the Hibre family and the two children from the children’s foster home in the village. They have their own clear individuality, but all have behavioural characteristics that would be recognizable from an English village in the 1950s. This was the highpoint of the post-war polite society, the values of the previous generation formed the glue that had yet to be chipped away by post modernism and the emergence of the teenager. Manners, restraint, stoicism and conformity were the cornerstones of a polite village community. The adults and children all exhibit these attributes, to a degree, with perhaps the hint of rebellion in the ranks.
There are many other characters that appear frequently or infrequently, and their impact on the story and their relationship with the main characters, serve to make the points of the novel clearer. Some serve two roles, both as real characters and as metaphor for greater meaning. The rector and his monks, the Brothers Bastardos, Mr Pignatiello the café owner, the village barber Mr Burlstrode, and Mr Nevus the semi-naked lock keeper are examples. The message of the metaphor is as true today and even more relevant than it was back then.
Alwyn
The author’s favourite child character. She is eight years old and half-sister to Flaxhändler. She lives with him in a foster home in the village. Alwyn rarely speaks, a fact which distinguishes her from the others. She does communicate, but sparingly, and her words are often relayed in a secondhand way through the recollections of the other children. Her character is complex. From a young age she did not receive the love and attention she needed, and this has resulted in a very private closed character. She has many amusing coping mechanisms and OCDs.
Internally, she is very sweet and harmless. The world is a strange place for her, so she forms a thick shell around herself, and only accepts those she trusts to converse with her. She has light brown shoulder-length hair and wears a thick Alice band, under which she keeps a small petrol cigarette lighter. She has startlingly green eyes, one of which is greener than the other, and possesses an unsettling stare. Alwyn simply lives in another world from everybody else, and evokes compassion from the reader. She has a close relationship with her brother and allows herself to be controlled by him to an extent. They have a certain understanding.
Frank
The eldest of the Hilbre children. He is ten, and physically resembles his father in his light hair, blue eyes and slightly freckled skin. Like his father, Frank is quite pragmatic and very much a fearless ‘doer’. This means his character may not appeal to readers as much as those of his two younger siblings; he doesn’t stand out as much.
He is quite dominating in the way older siblings tend to be, particularly in the cozy middle-class setting of a 1950s English village family. Whenever determination or anything physical is required within the children’s group, Frank normally steps up.
Moab
Pip’s eight-year-old sister. Her name is an acronym for her father’s previous adventures, and the name has stuck because she likes it. Her real first name is revealed mid-novel. Moab, like her younger brother and mother, has dark brown hair and brown eyes. She also has a tiny dark ‘beauty spot’ above her top lip.
She is a very sweet natured girl, considerate and cheerful. Very much glass half-full. Never sees the bad in people or events, having her own interpretation, that has never yet let her down. She trusts the word of the adults in her family and has belief in the produce of the adventurous nature of her siblings.
Pip
Seven-year-old son of Celia and Richard Hilbre, the youngest in the Hilbre family and the main hero character in the novel. Slim with dark brown hair and brown eyes like his mother, Pip is a bright boy, but also a little over-anxious. A worrier, but a boy that has not received any indoctrination and is therefore unaffected by any deep-seated irrationality.
He is somewhat pessimistic and tends to over-think problems but generally arrives at satisfactory conclusions about life. His anxiety plays out in his dreams and as a result he suffers from nightmares.
Flaxhändler
A German boy who lives in a children’s foster home in the village. He and his sister befriend the Hilbre children and consequently are always around. The name Flaxhändler is a mispronunciation of his surname Flachshändler, but the other children call him by that name and so it has stuck.
He is portrayed as being slightly stereotypically German in the minds of the English of that period and since. He has a commanding nature, orders his younger half-sister around in German, and is the same age as Frank. Embarrassed by the antics and compulsive behavior of his sister, he regularly scolds her in a controlling manner. He is blonde, with freckly skin. He is polite and bows a lot in an Austrian boy from The Sound of Music kind-of way.
Celia
Celia Hilbre the children’s mother. A woman in early thirties. She has dark brown hair and eyes. She is portrayed very much as a 1950s English housewife. She is a very good mother, dedicated to her family and her domestic surroundings. She is religious and her thought patterns differ from that of her husband’s.
She is sometimes a little over-protective toward her children, and sometimes a touch interfering, but always warm towards them. Having reached maturity during World War II, she remembers the shortages during that period and consequently makes food dishes that are largely unpalatable, due to her determination to waste nothing and experiment with everything.
Many of her recipes are drawn from an old French wartime cookbook. The family mealtimes are always an ordeal. She is one of a circle of village ladies and strives to become accepted by them. She suffers from the unusual early onset of cataracts and occasional issues with a stubborn in-growing eyelash.
Richard
Richard Hilbre the children’s father and husband to Celia. In his late thirties, he is a level-headed pragmatic character. A ‘doer’ and a problem solver. Has many practical skills. Former RAF pilot and pilot trainer during World War II, he retains contacts in this area. He flies relief missions around the world to war-torn or natural disaster areas.
Has spent a considerable amount of time training Yogic Fliers as part of his mission staff. Physically, he is described as ‘an all-round sportsman’. Tall with blue eyes and light brown tousled hair. He resembles the comic book hero of that period. Richard is rational and teaches his children to think rationally.
Their mother is religious, but the pair have agreed to allow their children to make their own minds up about life. He provides grounded argument in any family debate. He has an interest in technical projects and equipment. He has built a valve-powered control box for the creation of a quantum dog. A leading-edge physicist in the USA jokingly labels Richard’s project as Quantum Dogmatics, and the name sticks.
Aubrey
Aubrey Relish (referred to mainly as Uncle Aubrey by the children) is a former army major, now retired. He is the much older brother to Celia, and lives with them as part of the family. He is gay in a smart, quite flamboyant Oscar Wilde style. Always immaculately dressed and groomed.
He is quite traditional and conservative in his outlook but tends to be a fence sitter during family debates. He never refers directly to his sexuality but uses metaphor and euphemisms to describe himself and his exploits. This constantly passes over the heads of the children, who remain blissfully unaware of their uncle’s private life throughout the novel. The children trust him, and confide in him about their village secrets, more than they dare do their parents.
Aubrey appreciates the depth of character of his nephews and niece and consequently understands what their mission is. He is on their side; and the children know this and manipulate him. He owns the family car, an Armstrong Siddeley, and is a terribly erratic driver.