Which characters in a book have stayed with you long after reading the book?

[MyBrilliantDisguise]

Are there any characters in books that you almost see as real people? Where you're almost wondering how they are now, or how they'd react to something? Have any made a huge impact on you and the way you live your life?

There are a few for me. Holden Caulfield. Anne Shirley. Fay and Tom in The Republic of Love (one of my favourite books.)

How about you?

annandale I'm sure that was deffo not what CS Lewis had in mind!

I read Therese Raquin over 40 years ago and often thought about what it would be like to be her in that dingy, lonely, hopeless existence. And then, a chance for happiness! But no....
So depressing thinking about it even now. I never read the book again, left me feeling really low.

holden caulfield

What a great thread!

The second Mrs de Winter (Rebecca) and Claire and Jamie Fraser (Outlander series). So many to choose from but these were the ones that immediately sprang to mind.

Off the top of my head:

Charlotte from Charlotte Sometimes
Josephine from Cold Christmas

Abileen from The Help. She broke my heart, I cried so much reading that book. Then she was perfectly played by Viola Davis in the movie.

Boris from The Goldfinch. I loved him, he was such a survivor. I'm interested to see how he will be played in the movie.

There's a book called Officer Quality that pretty much no one will have read but I loved it as it was about a female soldier and in an army setting and I used to be in the forces. Her name is Esme Hansard. The author that wrote that book got it absolutely spot on, I recognised so much from my own time in the forces.

Tess.

Hardy confessed to being upset about her treatment at the hands of Victorians so he obviously thought she was real too!

Liesl (sp?) From The Book Thief. I've thought of her very often since reading the book 2 years ago. I miss her and have never been able to watch the film as it won't be "her."...

I really liked Fay and Tom from The Republic of Love as well.

But I think if it comes to Carol Shields books, Brenda and Jack Bowman from Happenstance are the characters that stayed with me most.

I loved her books, I miss her writing now.

Lenore Doolan from Important Artifacts... by Lianne Shapton.

Offred from The Handmaid's Tale, I know she made the tapes but we don't know what happened after that, and I wonder about her and her daughter.

Sophie from Sophie's World, because she would be my age and I found her very interesting.

Jennifer from Digging to Australia by Lesley Glaister. She was lonely and odd as a teenager and I felt bad for her and hoped she'd be okay. Then there was a second book and things hadn't gone as well for her as I'd hoped.

Emily from Morgan's Passing by Anne Tyler. And Elizabeth from The Clock Winder by the same author. I liked them both

Owen from A Prayer for Owen Meany is the one character that has stuck around in my head. There is a scene in the book towards the end that was so uplifting and sad that I'll never forget it.

Carlo in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. A wonderful, deep character. Adored him.

Oh yes yes Carlo! Me too!

I weep real tears every time I read that book.

Also Lennie from Of Mice and Men... I know not MN's book of choice but I love him. I can hear his voice .

Boxer from Animal Farm

And of course Piggy

I am a sucker for the tragic underdog it seems.

I also love Charley Bates.

I used to read Corelli repeatedly, in my late teens. Got to the stage my mum would ask ‘Carlo?’ when I cried, even though she’d never read it.

Tragic, wonderful man he was.

Holden Caulfield

Owen Meany

Marie-Laure and Werner from All the Light We Cannot See

Anna from When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
Theo from The Goldfinch

Kevin from "We need to talk about Kevin". His actions at the end of the book have haunted me for years. Plus nearly every character from "Never let me go"

Mariam from A Thousand Splendid Suns. My god, that book broke my heart. Such a strong woman.

The couple in Norwegian Wood.

From recent reads, Ifemelu in Americanah - she was such a vivid character and I wonder how it worked out between her and Obinze. Also Eleanor Oliphant has stayed in my head since finishing it

Yes, definitely Theo from the Goldfinch.

Michael Henchard in the Mayor of Casterbridge, Lord Jim in Conrad's Lord Jim. The girls from Malory Towers and the Five find-outers from the Enid Blyton books!

Tobee how lovely to come across another Cold Christmas fan. It's one of my all time favourite books. Do you think Josephine and Simon did ever meet again?

Sofia Mendes, The Sparrow and Children of God.

Kevin, Eva and Franklin, We Need To Talk About Kevin. For different reasons! I get so angry with Franklin, feel so bad for Eva and am just confused by Kevin, I feel like I need to see who he turned out to be 7 years on.

Mary Whitney, Alias Grace.

Bran de Montfort, Falls the Shadow.

Arkady Renko, Gorky Park/ Polar Star/ Red Square, etc. Karp Korobetz, Polar Star.

Bar-Avo, The Liar's Gospel

So many. I could write this list all day tbh!

Joe Gargery from Great Expectations. The scene where he visits Pip and can't manage to hang his hat up is both heartbreaking and hilarious. Such a sweet man.

Lyra Belacqua from the Northern Lights series. Everything I wished I'd been as a little girl.

Seraphina the Witch from Northern Lights. Cool, beautiful, tragic.

Jo March - my spirit character.

Olive Kitteridge from the eponymous book by Elizabeth Stroud. Funny and flawed, with a golden heart.

Dorothea Brooke from Middlemarch. Oh, I did feel for her when she was married to Casaubon with his 'white moles'

My username's namesake from the books by Rachel Hartman. My heart broke when I realised there were only two books. I'd love to read more of her later life.