A Handful of Dust Characters

Tony Last is a member of the landed gentry in 1930s England. A little over 30 years old, Tony lives at Hetton, the ancestral country estate where he grew up, with his wife, Brenda… read analysis of Tony Last

Brenda Last is Tony Last’s wife. Around 5 years younger than Tony, the attractive Brenda is still in her mid-20s and has grown bored with her isolated domestic existence at Hetton, yearning for… read analysis of Brenda Last

John Beaver is a 25-year-old unemployed Oxford graduate who lives at home with his mother, Mrs. Beaver. Widely disliked in the London socialite scene that he tries so doggedly to penetrate, Beaver is correctly… read analysis of John Beaver

Jock Grant-Menzies is a London socialite and member of Parliament. Jock is level-headed, good company, and universally well-liked. Once thought of as a potential match for Brenda Last before she ended up with Tony Last… read analysis of Jock Grant-Menzies

John Andrew is the young son of Tony Last and Brenda Last. A passionate and curious child with an innocent lack of any filter on what he’ll say, he adores horse jumping, which he… read analysis of John Andrew

Mrs. Rattery is Jock Grant-Menzies’s girlfriend, whom he invites to join him at Hetton for the fox hunt. Before meeting her, Tony Last has already dubbed her the “shameless blonde,” in apparent reference to… read analysis of Mrs. Rattery

Dr. Messinger is an eccentric explorer searching for a lost city in the Amazon, whose mission Tony Last joins on a whim. As Tony knows nothing about travel and survival, he entrusts himself to the… read analysis of Dr. Messinger

Mr. Todd, the English-speaking son of a missionary and an Amazonian native, runs the remote jungle ranch onto which Tony Last stumbles in his fevered delirium. Mr. Todd nurses the near-death Tony back to… read analysis of Mr. Todd

Rosa is a Macushi woman who speaks English and acts as the interpreter between her people and Tony Last and Dr. Messinger. She attributes her English knowledge to having “live[d] bottom-side two years with… read analysis of Rosa

Polly Cockpurse is a ringleader among London gossips and socialites. She was ruthlessly successful as a social climber, ascending from obscurity into the center of the scene, marrying an earl along the way. Her party… read analysis of Polly Cockpurse

Jenny Abdul Akbar is the American widow of a Moroccan prince, who lives in the flat next to Brenda Last’s. Brenda tries to use Jenny to bait Tony Last into an affair—thereby taking the… read analysis of Jenny Abdul Akbar

Mrs. Northcote is the fraudulent fortune teller at Polly Cockpurse’s gathering, which Jock Grant-Menzies interrupts to inform Brenda of John Andrew’s death. The ladies are each enraptured by Mrs. Northcote’s mysterious and exciting… read analysis of Mrs. Northcote

Marjorie is Brenda Last’s younger sister. Though lovely as well, she is “more solid than Brenda.” She and her husband Allan are popular but not rich, and they live in a small house in… read analysis of Marjorie

Allan is Marjorie’s husband and a prospective local political candidate in South London. He feigns ignorance of Brenda Last’s affair when she mentions it to him. After Brenda leaves Tony Last, Allan… read analysis of Allan

Reggie St. Cloud is Brenda Last’s oldest brother and an eccentric amateur archaeologist, a pursuit that has yielded various antiques but little financial reward. Oafish, “unnaturally stout,” and unaware of his own clumsiness, he… read analysis of Reggie

Ben Hacket oversees the horses on Hetton’s grounds. A gruff and foul-mouthed member of the lower class, he earns the young John Andrew’s adoration for teaching him how to jump horses and entertaining… read analysis of Ben Hacket

John Andrew’s nanny is a stern old killjoy who consistently decries John Andrew’s innocently crass behavior and foul language, which she attributes to the influence of Ben Hacket. Nevertheless, her distaste for the… read analysis of Nanny

Mr. Tendril is the local priest at the Hetton church, which Tony Last tries to attend every Sunday. Tendril was stationed in British colonial India many decades ago, and he still repeats the same sermons… read analysis of Mr. Tendril

Miss Ripon is a villager near Hetton, whose unruly horse kicks and kills John Andrew on the day of the fox hunt. Miss Ripon had no business riding the difficult horse, which had thrown… read analysis of Miss Ripon

Milly is one of the two prostitutes, along with Babs, that Tony Last and Jock Grant-Menzies meet at the Old Hundredth club on the night of their drunken spree. She and Babs fail to… read analysis of Milly

Winnie is Milly’s eight-year-old daughter. Brought along against Tony Last’s will on his and Milly’s weekend in Brighton, she threatens to derail the whole staged premise of an adulterous tryst. A relentless brat… read analysis of Winnie

Thérèse de Vitré is an 18-year-old Trinidadian girl aboard Tony’s transatlantic crossing. Her family, presumably aristocrats in France, came to Trinidad during the French Revolution and became part of the island’s small aristocratic elite, from… read analysis of Thérèse de Vitré

Richard Last is Tony Last’s cousin, whose line of the family had been disinherited from Hetton by rite of primogeniture. Nevertheless, he and his rambunctious family still think of Hetton as their own when… read analysis of Richard Last

Teddy is Richard Last’s 22-year-old son. He lives with his family at Hetton once they move in. Teddy, with Ben Hacket’s help, eagerly takes to the fox-farming his family has introduced to Hetton… read analysis of Teddy