Ashes

Curzon is idealistic, generous, and bighearted, and he often tempers Isabel’s anger and toughness with his quiet empathy. While Isabel at first sees his desire to fight for the Patriots as shortsighted and deluded, in truth it’s born of a sincerely-held hope for a better future, no matter how imperfect the present might be. Though they bicker, Curzon and Isabel make a well-matched pair, balancing each other’s weaknesses. It’s Curzon who overcomes their shared fear and first admits to the love they both feel; he represents the special courage it takes to love, on both a personal and a historical scale.

Stubborn as the angry donkey she takes a fancy to, but fundamentally tenderhearted, Ruth is Isabel’s little sister, and she bears a temperamental resemblance to her despite their long separation. Ruth has epilepsy and a developmental disability, but she’s also observant, kind, and clever in her own ways, with an affinity for animals. Like Isabel, she’s learned to carry a lot of her fear and anger inside her; the two sisters can only reconcile when they learn to be open with each other. 

Aberdeen, the young boy raised with Ruth and who loves her as something more than a sister, is both starry-eyed and cynical. His youthful dreams of freedom lead him to make the pragmatic choice to spy for the British, in the hopes that they’ll reward him. In this choice, he stands in contrast to Curzon, who chooses to fight for the Patriots in the hope of swaying the course of history, not just securing his own liberty. Aberdeen illuminates the complexity of the American Revolution from the perspective of enslaved people, to whom neither side of the conflict would be truly just; his poignant youth, his dreams of marrying Ruth, and his disappearance at the end of the story all underline the humanity of those forgotten by history.