Country People Characters

A hapless, stalled scholar who has been trying and failing to write eleven Ph.D. dissertations; he moves with his family to rural Vermont and house-sits for Norbert Rumphius. He is a wounded skier, a parent volunteer, and a member of the Jeremiah Wylkes Society.

Arc: Over the winter he moves from isolation, self-deception, and avoidance toward community involvement, honesty with Kate, and a new direction as a third-grade teacher. He resolves to buy the house and stay in Greensbury.

• Kate — his wife
• Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian — his daughter
• Wesley — his son
• Giuseppe — his dog
• Nausicaa Torres-Lakeman — his co-director in the school play
• Reginald 'Bentley' (Snowflake Bentley) — friend and driver who takes him home
• Hugh Lamoreaux — president of the Jeremiah Wylkes Society he joins
• Earl Blossfeldt — cabdriver, fellow Wylkesian, and friend
• Andrei Abramov — friend and fellow dowsing enthusiast
• Norbert Rumphius — owner of the house he buys

Miles's wife, a college English instructor who teaches a Blake course; she is in remission from multiple sclerosis and has rediscovered skiing, swimming, and the outdoors. She is practical, manages the household, and is deeply loyal to her family.

Arc: She keeps her own secret about Bjorn's confidences, explains it to Miles, and ends the book with an offer of an endowed chair in the English Department and a decision to remain in Greensbury.

• Miles Krzelewski — her husband
• Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian — her daughter
• Wesley — her son
• Miranda — skiing and swimming companion
• Bjorn Nordqvist — the man who confides his emotional neediness to her
• Clelia — her mother
• Nick — her old high-school boyfriend

Miles and Kate's young daughter, imaginative and playful, who skis in the Snowshoe Hare group, quotes The Cat in the Hat, and loves art. She follows Giuseppe into a cave and becomes lost in the woods.

Arc: After being accused of lying by Harper, she proves herself by entering the cave, is found alive hours later, and later dances as one of the ten Pucks in the school play.

• Miles Krzelewski — her father
• Kate — her mother
• Wesley — her brother
• Giuseppe — the dog who leads her to the cave and stays with her
• Harper — her friend, who dares her and then chickens out
• Nausicaa Torres-Lakeman — her drama teacher

Miles and Kate's son, a sharp, detail-oriented boy with a school-newspaper bent who corrects adults about Norse mythology and secretly investigates Pineridge Farm. He takes responsibility seriously.

Arc: He feels partly to blame for Olive's disappearance, becomes the first to enter the cave chamber, and recognizes that the winding cave path loops back to the start—though he waits to tell the adults.

• Miles Krzelewski — his father
• Kate — his mother
• Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian — his sister
• John B. — anonymous informant he emails
• Sam — subject of his school profile

The family dog, bewildered by snow and prone to destructive burrowing; he experiences the world through smell. He becomes a key guide to the hidden cave.

Arc: He leads Olive to the cave, stays with her after she falls, and repeatedly fetches humans until Bentley notices the clay on him and follows him to the rescue. He senses something extraordinary coming at the end.

• Miles Krzelewski — his owner
• Kate — his owner
• Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian — the child he guides to the cave
• Wesley — family member
• Reginald 'Bentley' (Snowflake Bentley) — the man who notices his clay stains and follows him

An itinerant drama teacher who casts all forty-six children in an unsanitized Midsummer and leads the children in transformation games. She is theatrical, enthusiastic, lonely, and drawn to Miles.

Arc: She remains a somewhat mysterious figure; Miles is tempted by her, but he ultimately confesses to Kate and attends the play with Kate and Wesley while Olive dances as a Puck.

• Miles Krzelewski — her co-director and fellow adult helper
• Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian — her student in the play
• Kate — the wife Miles confesses about her to

A strange, gregarious ER companion and driver who believes he is possessed by the original Snowflake Bentley's ibbur and works on an Encyclopedia of Foolish Errors. He drives Miles through snowstorms and later helps in the search for Olive.

Arc: He befriends Miles over the winter, hosts the family for three days during a storm, and at the cave uses evidence—the clay on Giuseppe—to find Olive. He remains skeptical of Rumor and Unreason.

• Miles Krzelewski — friend and passenger
• Valerie — his late wife
• Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley — the ibbur who possesses him
• Sandra — his former therapist
• Hugh Lamoreaux — fellow Jeremiah Wylkes Society member

A Jeremiah Wylkes Society chapter president, initially expected to be a blowhard, who turns out to be a meticulous and cautious student of Wylkes. He wears an Indiana Jones hat, runs PowerPoint updates, and directs the cave search.

Arc: He cries when no underground city is found, but insists that an unenchanted discovery does not preclude an enchanted one, and closes his eyes to let the imagined glorious city linger.

• Miles Krzelewski — fellow Society member
• Earl Blossfeldt — presenter he approves and applauds
• Candace (Farm Candy) — member he encourages
• Serena Rubin — attendee at his meeting
• Kayleigh Swan — member at his meeting

A cabdriver, Wylkesian, and second cousin of Sam; he tells the story of his great-grandfather Isaiah discovering an engraving of J. WYLKES. He treats Miles as family and retrieves his car.

Arc: He hosts a Society meeting, presents his family history, and later joins the cave expedition, saying 'Well, well' at the sight of the corridor.

• Miles Krzelewski — passenger he calls family
• Sam — his second cousin
• Isaiah Blossfeldt — his great-grandfather
• Hugh Lamoreaux — fellow Wylkesian

Miles's friend, a dowsing enthusiast who presents maps and serves on the Society's subcommittees of Geology and Speleology. He and Miles originally had the idea to dowse Catamount Hollow.

Arc: He remains enthusiastic about the hidden world; after the cave disappointment, Miles worries Andrei may have a mental breakdown and blame him.

• Miles Krzelewski — friend
• Hugh Lamoreaux — fellow Wylkesian
• Candace (Farm Candy) — fellow Wylkesian

A Wylkesian and online homesteader whose staged videos help Miles pass the hours; she feels trapped by fame and social-media loneliness. She paints scenes of Princess Gabalor and sees the Colloquies as a love story.

Arc: She is encouraged by the group, presents her paintings at the meeting, and later joins the cave expedition holding hands with Serena Rubin.

• Miles Krzelewski — creator of videos he watches and fellow Wylkesian
• Serena Rubin — holds her hand in the cave
• Hugh Lamoreaux — encourages her
• Kayleigh Swan — shouts encouragement to her

Olive's teacher, a pregnant Wylkesian who lets Olive do art in lieu of math and science and reports Google Earth photos of drilling at the Kola Superdeep Borehole. She ignores medical warnings against third-trimester spelunking.

Arc: She has her baby, leaves a teaching vacancy, and runs for Congress, creating the job that Miles takes.

• Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian — her student
• Miles Krzelewski — parent volunteer and fellow Wylkesian
• Hugh Lamoreaux — fellow Wylkesian

The charismatic ski coach who runs the children's ski league and teaches the Norwegian way of friluftsliv; he rescues a child and gives Miles begrudging skiing pointers. He texts Kate late at night and confides his painful separation.

Arc: He remains a source of marital friction until Kate explains his emotional neediness to Miles.

• Kate — confides his emotional neediness to her
• Miles Krzelewski — ski coach he assists
• Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian — child in his ski program
• Wesley — child in his ski program

A neighbor who gives the family 'country education,' explaining clothing sales, local history, gossip, and Bjorn's Olympic history. She skis with Kate and takes her to Masters Swimming.

Arc: She remains a supporting presence who connects the family to the community.

• Miles Krzelewski — neighbor she helps with country education
• Kate — skiing and swimming companion

An exterminator, band teacher, and Wylkesian nicknamed 'the Rat Man'; he is called by every renter of Norb's house and pretends each time it is his first visit for drama. He brings the 'Exterminator's Special' to potlucks.

Arc: He attends Society meetings and joins the cave expedition, saying 'Oh boy' at the sight of the passage.

• Miles Krzelewski — acquaintance
• Candace (Farm Candy) — the one he may be trying to go to bed with
• Norbert Rumphius — occasional employer
• Hugh Lamoreaux — fellow Wylkesian

A Conservancy director who met Miles on an earlier walk and attends the Jeremiah Wylkes Society meeting, saying she thinks they are onto something. She holds hands with Farm Candy in the cave.

Arc: She remains a supporting Wylkesian.

• Miles Krzelewski — acquaintance from an earlier walk
• Candace (Farm Candy) — holds her hand in the cave
• Hugh Lamoreaux — meeting host

The school principal who greets Miles as Mr. K. and later offers him a third-grade teaching job despite his lack of credentials. She says Miles is beloved by the children.

Arc: She exploits a credential loophole to bring Miles into teaching.

• Miles Krzelewski — parent volunteer she hires
• Kayleigh Swan — teacher whose vacancy he fills

The offstage owner of the house Miles and Kate are staying in; he hires Bentley for mathematics projects and has had several previous renters who could not stay. He never appears in person during the winter.

Arc: He accepts Miles's offer to buy the house, including the furniture and beanbags.

• Miles Krzelewski — the man who house-sits and then buys his house
• Kate — the woman who buys his house
• Reginald 'Bentley' (Snowflake Bentley) — occasional employer
• Clem — exterminator called by every renter

Olive's friend, who lives in harder circumstances and envies Olive's stuffed-animal collection. She tells Olive her father shot a bear cub and later accuses Olive of lying about the cave dog.

Arc: She later dares Olive to enter the cave, chickens out, and argues with Olive before Olive storms off.

• Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian — her friend
• Miles Krzelewski — Olive's father
• Kate — Olive's mother

A Wylkesian and downsized English Department administrator who takes part in close readings of chapters 13-17 with Candace and Gerald. She is lonely and has found solace in the Colloquies after cycling through other religions.

Arc: She joins the search for Olive; Kate remembers her from the English Department.

• Candace (Farm Candy) — close-reading partner
• Gerald — close-reading partner
• Miles Krzelewski — fellow Wylkesian
• Kate — once her English Department colleague

A school custodian with a basketball-sized umbilical hernia and a passion for birdwatching; he is Earl's second cousin and attended the Mountain Catch. He is the subject of Wesley's school profile.

Arc: No personal arc; he connects Miles to the small-town web.

• Earl Blossfeldt — his second cousin
• Wesley — the student profiling him
• Miles Krzelewski — acquaintance

Host of The Miscellaneous Minute radio show, who takes calls about pets and pools and says he secretly hates pets. His show becomes a recurring comic and uncanny frame.

Arc: In the final epilogue he hosts a pool-themed show and receives Todd's call about a hidden world.

• Todd — caller who describes a hidden world
• Leroy — his predecessor who died

A radio caller in Epilogue Two who describes his pool emptying and lifting out of the ground to reveal a cave, stairs, a castle door, and a hidden world. He says he cannot go back and asks Don to tell his wife he loves her.

Arc: He chooses to stay in the hidden world and the call is lost.

• Don Martel — radio host he calls

The historical Vermont photographer of snowflakes after whom Reginald is nicknamed. As an ibbur, he speaks to Reginald, giving photography advice, life advice, and pep talks.

Arc: He exists mostly in Reginald's account; his ibbur presence explains Reginald's possession or delusion.

• Reginald 'Bentley' (Snowflake Bentley) — the man he possesses
• Sandra — reportedly invited him, according to the second Bentley

Bentley's late wife, who loved Valentine's Day and enjoyed the heated foot massage in the ambulance. Her death left Bentley unable to spend Valentine's Day alone.

Arc: None; she is remembered.

• Reginald 'Bentley' (Snowflake Bentley) — her widower

Kate's mother, who cooks lavish Brazilian food and helps with the children while Kate is away. She closes ranks with Kate after Kate changes her flight home.

Arc: None; she appears in Miles's memory of Kate's UC Irvine trip.

• Kate — her daughter
• Miles Krzelewski — her son-in-law
• Wesley — her grandson
• Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian — her granddaughter

Kate's old high-school boyfriend, a bartender she runs into at UC Irvine. He later dies after falling from a roof while working with his brother.

Arc: He reopens Miles's jealousy and, after his death, brings Miles and Kate together in grief.

• Kate — her old high-school boyfriend
• Miles Krzelewski — source of jealousy

Kate's adviser who invites her on an open-water swim; the swim unsettles Miles because Paul is the only one there and suggests going ashore to rest.

Arc: None; he exists in Miles's memory.

• Kate — her academic adviser
• Miles Krzelewski — implicit rival

A doctor who examines Miles's split thumbs and recommends latex cots; she also tells Miles gossip about Sam's basketball-sized umbilical hernia and birdwatching hobby.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Miles Krzelewski — his doctor
• Sam — source of medical gossip

A parent coach in the ski league and a Wylkesian who serves on the Speleology Subcommittee. He tells Miles he has really picked up skiing.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Miles Krzelewski — fellow parent coach and Wylkesian
• Hugh Lamoreaux — fellow Wylkesian

A parent coach for the Snowshoe Hare ski group who tells Miles he has really picked up skiing.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Miles Krzelewski — fellow parent coach

A parent coach for the Snowshoe Hare ski group who tells Miles he has really picked up skiing.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Miles Krzelewski — fellow parent coach

A Wylkesian who takes part in close readings of chapters 13-17 with Candace and Margie and arrives at the meeting with Andrei, Candace, and Earl.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Candace (Farm Candy) — close-reading partner
• Margie — close-reading partner

An anonymous email informant who contacts Wesley's fake organization, claiming to be a former contractor employee suspicious of Pineridge Farm. He addresses Wesley's fictional persona 'Steve.'

Arc: No personal arc; he advances Wesley's investigation subplot.

• Wesley — anonymous informant who contacts him

A Wylkesian on the Subcommittee of Geology who debates Kayleigh about fresh scars at the Kola Superdeep Borehole.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Kayleigh Swan — debating fellow Wylkesian
• Miles Krzelewski — fellow Wylkesian

A boiler inspector who examines the noisy boiler, declares it working perfectly, and gives Miles and Kate earplugs.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Miles Krzelewski — homeowner he helps
• Kate — homeowner he helps

A dog appearing in photos Kate sends Miles; he has gone straight through the carpet. The photos distract Miles in the ER and fuel his story about the digging dog.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Kate — the person who sends photos of him to Miles
• Miles Krzelewski — the man who admires what the dog did

Miles's doctor, who is unavailable by phone; his nurse relays that he would tell Miles to take it easy. He is part of Miles's confinement after the MCL injury.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Miles Krzelewski — his doctor

Earl's great-grandfather, a logger who survives a crushing accident, plans a railroad tunnel through the mountains, and discovers an underground cavern with an engraving of J. WYLKES.

Arc: No personal arc; his story is told by Earl.

• Earl Blossfeldt — his great-grandson

Bentley's school-appointed therapist who suffered a disabling stroke before an appointment with him. She later walks on Main Street with her arm curled, mumbling a greeting.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Reginald 'Bentley' (Snowflake Bentley) — his former therapist

One of Olive's friends who is at the house when Kate takes Olive's friends home after some ganging up.

Arc: No personal arc.

• Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian — her friend