The Turning Characters

Ernie’s wife, Cleo, is vain and vulgar woman whom Vic and Carol Lang dislike. Actually named Cloris, she chose her name from popular magazines to attain an air of glamor. Cleo frequently fights with her husband, to the point that her brother-in-law, Bob, must intervene to save their marriage.

The book never names Ernie and Cleo’s daughters (Vic’s cousins) but Vic Lang notes their physical ugliness, which apparently makes them resemble wobbegongs.

The sister of Vic and daughter of Bob and Carol, Kerry dies in infancy of meningitis.

Bruno the Yugo is a boy, slightly older than the narrator of “Aquifer,” whose family are immigrants from the Balkans. When Bruno grows up, he returns to the Balkans to fight in the Yugoslav wars.

The Box children are the children of a large, Catholic family who live across the street from the narrator of “Aquifer” and are his most reliable playmates throughout childhood.

Dyson’s wife and Ricky’s mother, Sophie dies by suicide when Ricky is 4 years old. Initially a stable, reliable person, Sophie suffers from severe postpartum depression after Ricky is born, and her mental health only continues to deteriorate until her suicide.

Dyson and Sophie’s son, Ricky is a bright, serious child who looks up to his father very much, drawing pictures of him and treasuring things Dyson has made for him, like his cubbyhouse.

Sky is Fay Keenan’s daughter and Ricky Dyson’s schoolmate.

Jared is a classmate of Ricky’s and the first friend he makes in Angelus.

Margaret Larwood is the exceptionally attractive older sister of Agnes, who ran away from home, much to the dismay of her father, Eric Larwood.

Agnes’s mother is the wife of Eric Larwood, a religious woman whose husband used to abuse her before he quit drinking.

Raelene and Max’s daughters are young girls whom the book never names.

Macklin is a policeman and colleague of Bob Lang’s who also participates in the search for the missing climber on the slopes of the mountain known as the Dial.

The missing climber, lost on the slopes of the mountain known as the Dial, is the object of the search-and-rescue operation that Bob Lang and Macklin coordinate. Marie finds him after she hears his faint, unconscious cries and she searches for him with Bob.

Boner’s father, also nicknamed Boner, is a worker in the boning room at the meatworks, which is where his nickname originates.

Jackie’s father is a building inspector, a harsh, unlikeable man who is almost entirely absent from his daughter’s life. As a young man, he had dreamed of becoming an architect, and his inability to realize this dream left him with lifelong bitterness.

Jackie’s mother is passive and detached. Jackie always believed her mother was “simple,” but in fact she was addicted to Valium throughout Jackie’s childhood and adult life.

Charlie is a boy from the city that Jackie briefly dates, more out of curiosity than genuine affection. While Charlie and his friends visit Angelus over the next school break, their relationship quickly fizzles out.

Ethna is an Irish woman whom Jackie briefly dates and then starts an antique-import company with. Jackie later buys Ethna out of the company, and they part ways.

Keira is Fenn and Daisy’s daughter, one of several children. Vic accidentally startles her when he is walking back to the house after his nap, and he takes her back to her mother, holding her hand in an unexpected paternal gesture.