Some of the most memorable characters in literature aren’t the hero or heroine.
Who can forget the nefarious nerves of Mrs Bennett or the retorts of her husband, Mr Bennett in Pride and Prejudice?
How about Mrs Rachel Lynde who went to great lengths to express her opinion of Marilla’s orphan girl, Anne Shirley?
Do you know the wise woman of Lancaster county, Ella Mae Zook, who appears in so many of Beverly Lewis’ Amish stories, whose wisdom is sought and cherished (along with her cup of peppermint tea)?
Secondary characters add so much colour to a story and to a character’s life, it’s hard not to imagine the novel without them. Sometimes those characters serve as the “truth-giver”, using their relationship with the main character to point them toward a hard truth they’d rather not face. As readers, we cheer when characters listen to them and boo when they don’t.
Sometimes we’re even treated to a novel completely dedicated to the secondary character(s) that won our hearts in the first place.
I love reading about supporting cast members almost as much as I love writing them. In Snowbound in Winterberry Falls, that character for me was Mrs. Sweeney – Jason’s retired third grade teacher exiled to live out her days in the Fallsview Retirement Center. I can’t tell you how much fun I had writing her. She’s a mix of women who have influenced me in my spiritual walk and people who have a humorous outlook on life. If she were a real person, I’d want Mrs. Sweeney to be my grandmother!
I hope to keep up her appearances in future novels about Winterberry Falls.
Perhaps she’ll even get a story of her own.
Who are the memorable secondary characters for you?