The Plague of Doves Characters

Evelina, the novel’s first narrator, is Mooshum’s granddaughter, Clemence’s daughter, and Joseph Harp’s younger sister; she is also the first great love of Corwin Peace’s life. As a child, Evelina fixates… read analysis of Evelina Harp

Seraph Milk (mostly known by his nickname “Mooshum”) is the patriarch of the Milk family: with his wife Junesse, Mooshum is father to Clemence and Geraldine, and grandfather to Evelina and Joseph… read analysis of Mooshum (Seraph Milk)

For Mooshum’s younger brother Shamengwa, nothing is more important than playing violin. After Mooshum runs off and leaves young Shamengwa alone with their absentee parents, Shamengwa finds solace in his father’s fiddle—until his… read analysis of Shamengwa Milk

Geraldine Milk is Clemence’s sister, Mooshum and Junesse Malaterre’s daughter, and Evelina’s beloved aunt. Over the course of The Plague of Doves, Geraldine also becomes Antone Bazil Coutts’s girlfriend and… read analysis of Geraldine Milk

Joseph Harp is Evelina’s older brother, the son of Clemence Harp and the grandson of Mooshum. Like his dad (Evelina’s father), Joseph is quiet and fascinated by science, often capturing salamanders… read analysis of Joseph Harp

Judge Antone Bazil Coutts is the presiding judge in Pluto, where he combines standard jurisprudence with “tribal precedent.” Like his grandfather Joseph Coutts, Judge Coutts’s youth is marked by painful romance, as he embarks… read analysis of Judge Antone Bazil Coutts

Joseph Coutts is Judge Antone Bazil Coutts’s grandfather and one of the original founders of Pluto, North Dakota, having gone on the town-site expedition with Reginald Bull, Emil Buckendorf, and Henri and… read analysis of Joseph Coutts

Corwin Peace is the son of Maggie Peace and John Wildstrand, conceived while Wildstrand was married to someone else; he is also Billy Peace’s nephew, and a descendant of Cuthbert, Henri… read analysis of Corwin Peace

Billy Peace is Maggie Peace’s younger brother, Marn Wolde’s husband (and the father of her two children Judah and Lilith), and the leader of a cult-like spiritual group known only as “… read analysis of Billy Peace

Maggie Peace is Billy Peace’s older sister, Corwin Peace’s mother, and John Wildstrand’s lover; she is also a descendant of Cuthbert Peace. Despite John’s marriage to Neve Harp, Maggie and… read analysis of Maggie Peace

Henri Peace is brother to Lafayette and Cuthbert Peace, and an ancestor of Corwin, Maggie, and Billy Peace. Alongside Lafayette, Henri is one of the indigenous guides who helps lead Reginald… read analysis of Henri Peace

Lafayette Peace is, alongside his brother Henri, one of the people who helps survey and found the town of Pluto. Lafayette is also older brother to Cuthbert Peace and guide to Joseph Coutts and… read analysis of Lafayette Peace

Cuthbert Peace (who also goes by the name “Opin” because of his potato-shaped nose) is Corwin’s ancestor and the younger brother of Lafayette and Henri Peace. Cuthbert is friends with Mooshum when they… read analysis of Cuthbert Peace

Marn Wolde is Warren Wolde’s niece, Billy Peace’s wife (and the first member of his cult-like following “the kindred”), and Lilith and Judah’s mother. On the rare occasions when Marn… read analysis of Marn Wolde

Warren Wolde is Marn Wolde’s uncle and the owner of a large farm just outside of Pluto, North Dakota. He is also, as Cordelia Lochren eventually discovers, the man responsible for the murders that… read analysis of Warren Wolde

Lilith Peace is the elder child of Marn Wolde and Billy Peace. Along with her brother Judah, Lilith is raised in Billy’s cult (“the kindred”). Marn believes that Lilith is unusually… read analysis of Lilith Peace

Judah Peace is the child of Marn Wolde and Billy Peace and the younger brother of Lilith Peace. Judah is quiet and shy, and terrified of his father’s frequent and unpredictable punishments. When Marn… read analysis of Judah Peace

Neve Harp is Evelina’s paternal aunt and John Wildstrand’s ex-wife; she is also Mooshum’s late-in-life love interest and the leader (alongside Cordelia Lochren) of the Pluto Historical Society. Evelina views Neve… read analysis of Neve Harp

Evelina’s father is Neve Harp’s brother, Clemence’s husband, Octave Harp’s nephew, and father to Evelina and her older brother Joseph. Evelina’s father is soft-spoken and calm, “a sedate-looking science teacher” at… read analysis of Evelina’s Father

Octave Harp is Evelina’s father’s uncle. Before Evelina was born, Octave fastidiously collected stamps and was particularly fond of “disaster stamps.” Octave’s stamp collection is eventually worth millions, though neither Neve Harp nor Evelina’s… read analysis of Octave Harp

John Wildstrand is Neve Harp’s first husband, Maggie Peace’s lover, and the grandson of Eugene Wildstrand. John is also the president of Pluto’s first bank, which was founded by Neve’s father. When… read analysis of John Wildstrand

Eugene Wildstrand is the father of Junesse Malaterre (whom he had out of wedlock) and the grandfather of John Wildstrand. In 1911, is perhaps the loudest voice in favor of hanging the four Indian… read analysis of Eugene Wildstrand

Junesse Malaterre is Mooshum’s wife, Clemence and Geraldine’s mother, and Eugene Wildstrand’s (illegitimate) daughter; she is also distantly related to Asiginak and Holy Track. Though Junesse has died long before Evelina… read analysis of Junesse Malaterre

Emil Buckendorf is Sister Mary Anita Buckendorf’s great-grandfather and one of the founders of Pluto via the town-site expedition. Later, Buckendorf would also become one of the loudest voices in favor of hanging Mooshum… read analysis of Emil Buckendorf

Sister Mary Anita Buckendorf is a nun and a teacher at Evelina and Corwin’s Catholic middle school. Mary Anita has a “prognathic jaw,” which means that her chin protrudes below her face—a visual that… read analysis of Sister Mary Anita Buckendorf

Doctor Cordelia Lochren, first introduced by Judge Coutts only as “C.,” is the town doctor in Pluto and the first female doctor in the region. She is also the baby who is the sole survivor… read analysis of Doctor Cordelia Lochren (“C.”)

Ted Bursap is Cordelia Lochren’s husband and a local contractor in Pluto, loathed by many for his eagerness to tear down historic old buildings and replace them with cheap new construction. Ted is portrayed… read analysis of Ted Bursap

Holy Track is Asiginak’s great-nephew and Father Severine’s mentee; he is also one of the few characters in The Plague of Doves to be based on a real historical figure. In both history… read analysis of Holy Track

Asiginak is Holy Track’s great-uncle and a distant relative of Junesse Malaterre. After Holy Track’s mother dies of tuberculosis, Asiginak takes him in, teaching Holy Track to weave baskets and getting him an… read analysis of Asiginak

Father Severine is Mooshum’s older half-brother and the priest in Pluto at the time of the 1911 lynching. After Mooshum and Holy Track initially escape the white men who have come to capture them… read analysis of Father Severine

Johann Vogeli is a German settler of Pluto. In 1911, when Johann was a young teenager, Johann’s father Frederic was among the white vigilantes leading the call to lynch Mooshum, Holy Track, Asiginak… read analysis of Johann Vogeli

Tobek Hoag is a resident of Pluto in 1911. Shortly after a white family is found murdered, Tobek flees Pluto, making some residents of the town suspect Tobek of the crime, even after a group… read analysis of Tobek Hoag

Father Cassidy (jokingly called “Father Hop Along” by Mooshum because of his over-eager walk) is the Catholic priest in Pluto. Cassidy is often depicted as greedy and lascivious, downing Clemence’s whiskey and pressuring Mooshum… read analysis of Father Cassidy

Reginald Bull is the organizer of the town-site expedition to survey what will eventually become Pluto. Bull hires Henri and Lafayette Peace as guides and English Bill as a cook, while he convinces Joseph Coutts… read analysis of Reginald Bull

English Bill is the cook Reginald Bull hires for Joseph Coutts’s ill-fated town-site expedition. Though Bill is a delight to be around, his cooking is disastrous, and his poor-tasting food contributes to the stomach… read analysis of English Bill

Nonette is a patient at the mental hospital where Evelina works as a staff member. Though Nonette is initially rude and haughty to Evelina, the two young women form a friendship, which eventually turns sexual… read analysis of Nonette

Dorea Swivel is Joseph Coutts’s landlady and lover. Though Joseph Coutts and Dorea have passionate, deeply intimate sex, Joseph feels ambivalent about Dorea, insisting that she is “plain” and should therefore only be a… read analysis of Dorea Swivel

“Mustache” Maude Black, along with her husband Ott Black, is the woman who takes Mooshum and Junesse in when they run away from home in their early teens. A real historical figure, Maude was a… read analysis of “Mustache” Maude Black