The Daughters of Mars: Analysis of Major Characters

Author: Thomas Keneally

First published: 2013

Genre: Novel

Locale: Macleay Valley and Melbourne, Australia; the South Pacific; Lemnos, Greece; Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt

Plot: Historical fiction

Time: World War I era (1914–1922)

Sally Durance, a volunteer nurse with the Australian military in World War I. A reticent, thoughtful 22-year-old woman, Sally is plagued by her role in her mother's death from cervical cancer. She imagines herself a murderer after she manages to cache extra morphine in order to euthanize her mother, who is suffering excruciating pain. Early on, Sally is resentful of her sister Naomi, who seems too carefree to have recently murdered their mother. Sally doesn't realize that her mother died naturally until Naomi clarifies, several years later, the exact circumstances of their mother's death. Sally is conservative and wistful, and many in her hometown think of her as a spinster-in-training.

Naomi Durance, Sally's sister. A direct and confident woman, Naomi is resolute and courageous, characteristics that Sally guesses are powerful enough for Naomi to euthanize their mother, who is suffering horrible agony from cervical cancer. (It is never clear that this euthanasia actually happened.) She is more sophisticated than her sister, with “an urbane” air. Naomi is full of contradictions, feeling remorse and hilarity, shame and amusement at the same time. She considers Dr. Airdrie's (a female surgeon) desire for a relationship with her while at the same time feeling repulsed. She says of herself “I am a string of recoils from circumstance.” She claims it a Durance personality trait to insist that any great joy be counter-weighted with an equally great sense of loss.

Honora Slattery, an Irish-Australian military nurse. Early on, Sally learns that the blue-eyed Honora lives true to her name and the two become instant friends. She is an honorable and trustworthy friend. Unlike many of the nurses, Honora is not interested in finding a doctor to marry, though she ends up capturing the heart of Captain Lionel Dankworth. Honora is the embodiment of a “tension… between jokiness and honor,” raucousness and fun. After receiving word that her fiancé, Lionel Dankworth, has been killed in action, though his body is not recovered, she refuses to accept his death and begins a quest to locate him. Her actions land her in a sanatorium, briefly, before she returns to her duties as a combat nurse.

Leonora (Leo) Casement, an Australian military nurse. This fair-haired nurse, one year younger than Sally, is a confident role model for the other girls in terms of courting, as she promenades with Dr. Fellowes. She is not clinging, nor does she put on airs. She and Dr. Fellowes become engaged. However, Leo later dies of an hemorrhagic fever.

Karla Freud, an Australian nurse. Often referred to as the “Diva,” Karla Freud is more confidant and sophisticated—more worldly—than many of the other nurses in the nursing unit. She is a Jewish singer who has sung with a famous theatrical group in Melbourne, so the other nurses admire her for her minor fame. She had once been engaged to a doctor, but called off the engagement to the chagrin of her family. Her confidence is shattered, however, after she is attacked and raped by a soldier at Lemnos. She becomes embittered after learning that her rapist is not incarcerated, and she is not only restricted from the hospital wards, but is also sent away to work in Alexandria, away from the friends who love her. Though she eventually regains some of her former warmth, she remains an embittered, “grave personage.”

Matron Marion Mitchie, an Australian military nurse matron. Mitchie is a spirited, courageous and protective matron in the Australian military services, charged with supervising, and—in her case—protecting the nurses in her charge. She wins the affection and devotion of the nurses, as well as the respect and admiration of the doctors and military leadership with whom she works. She is wide-hipped with a sturdy constitution, but she is horribly maimed, losing a leg while escaping from the sinking ship Archimedes. Once she recuperates sufficiently, she returns to the battlefields as a nurse matron in the Australian Voluntary Hospital with her friends Lady Tarlton and Naomi. After she contracts tuberculosis, she is forced to admit that she has a 25-year-old son who is in the fighting, and that is why she has been so adamant in her refusal to travel south to a healthier environment.

Elsie Carradine, an Australian military nurse. Given that the military nurses are supposed to be single, Elsie does not advertise the fact that she is married, though most of her associates know. This confident, redheaded nurse is the daughter-in-law of the Australian Attorney General. Elsie is a champion of stability, with an air of “dark grandeur” that scares away any flirtations from the soldiers. Capable and even-tempered, her character is sorely tested after her husband, Eric, suffers a head injury that leaves him mentally scarred, unpredictable, suspicious, and violent.

Lieutenant Eric Carradine, Elsie Carradine's husband. Eric sustains a severe head injury in the fighting, which has him speaking gibberish. While he eventually regains his speech, his personality is permanently scarred, as the normally congenial and docile man becomes unpredictable and morose. He suffers from severe, sudden headaches and flies into rages at the least provocation.

Rosanna Nettice, an Australian military nurse. Given her sallow, sickly appearance, nurse Nettice is surprisingly energetic. She attributes her survival after the Archimedes' sinking to divine intervention: A drowning horse takes her to the water's surface from depths too deep for her to survive. She is suspended from her nursing duties after giving the patient Sam Byers—a blinded jeweler—special attention, with private conversation and chocolate, something that is strictly forbidden for the nurses. As punishment, she is sent away to a “rest compound” sanatorium). She uses her incarceration as an opportunity to make herself useful, caring for the mentally ill. After her release, Nettice returns home with the Jewish Lieutenant Sam Beyers, as his fiancée.

Captain Warwick Fellowes, a military surgeon. A congenial ear, nose, and throat physician, Dr. Fellowes often shakes his head in wonder at the inanity of military protocol. He is a civilian at heart. Though Sally has little experience, Captain Fellowes asks Sally to work with him as his anesthetist. He falls in love and becomes engaged to Leonora Casement, who later dies of a hemorrhagic fever.

Dr. Hookes, an Australian physician. Having worked as a general practitioner prior to the war, Dr. Hookes, a redheaded medical officer from the Western District of Victoria, is overwhelmed by the carnage. Though he is not a practiced surgeon, he is sent to the operating theater, where he buckles under the pressure, accidently slicing a patient's carotid artery. Afterwards, he threatens to kill himself if he is made to continue performing a task beyond his capability.

Sergeant Ian Kiernan, a Sergeant in the Australian military. Kiernan earns the moniker “the professor” after he tells the staff some of the Greek myths associated with the area surrounding the island of Lemnos, which is their destination. He is a scholar who starts a ship newspaper and encourages Naomi to write about her experiences during the sinking of the Archimedes. Ironically, Kiernan is a member of the Society of Friends, a pacifist Christian sect that opposes war on religious grounds. As such, he has committed himself to supporting the medical needs of the wounded, rather than fighting. He proves himself a capable leader on a lifeboat following the Archimedes' sinking, by sending up flares to alert passing ships about their plight. He and Naomi eventually fall in love and become engaged after they have met with the Friends Committee of Clarity to get the church's blessing. Later, Kiernan is jailed and tried for treason after he refuses to take up arms, based on religious conviction.

Captain Lionel Dankworth, a captain in the Australian military. Tall and somewhat flamboyant, Dankworth becomes smitten once he meets Honora Slattery. He loses part of his ear to a bullet, but returns to battle where he is presumed killed in action.

Lieutenant Robbie Shaw, a lieutenant in the Australian military. A fun-loving, cheerful fellow, Robbie sustains a severe injury to his femur that results, after surgery, in one leg being five inches shorter than the other. Naomi admires Robbie, and gives him careful consideration after he proposes marriage to her during a fierce storm, as the two head back to Australia. His proposal is a surprise, if not a bit premature, and Naomi asks for time to consider it. He explains that he longs for a simple life, though his exuberant personality seems to contradict that wish.

Lieutenant Charlie Condon, a lieutenant in the Australian military. With a face described as that of a choirboy, Robbie Shaw is a surprisingly welcomed sight for Sally—surprising because he is from home, and Sally is loathe to be around anyone from home. He is the son of a well-known solicitor—part of the “gentry” in a supposedly classless society. Charlie is an energetic young artist, inspired by the antiquities he visits with Sally. He has a genuine curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, especially regarding cultural and artistic endeavors. He is kind, cheerful, and compassionate. He and Sally visit cathedrals and galleries together. He impresses Sally most notably when he makes a dinner reservation for them via telegram from the front, and when he wonders aloud what fear Joan of Arc must have experienced—something Sally had never considered.

Captain Ellis Hoyle, an Australian Captain. For a short while, this well-tailored, square-jawed captain becomes enamored with Naomi Durance, promenading the deck with her, and sharing a carriage ride on jaunts with other young military men and women. He makes a special effort to have his uniforms tailored in Cairo. Hoyle is killed on his first day of combat, leaving his watch to Naomi, who does not welcome the token. She was never that interested in Hoyle and feels obligated by the gesture, though she can't imagine what that obligation is.

Lady Julia Henning Tarlton, an English-born woman married to an Australian Viscount. To the same extent that Lady Tarlton is candid and lacking in reserve, she is committed to easing the suffering of the war wounded. She acquires a chateau (called Chateau Baincthun) and builds a hospital, which she dubs the Australian Voluntary Hospital, using much of her own resources and money. She is a wife in name only as both she and Lord Tarlton have affairs and don't live in the same household. Though it is never clear what Lord Tarlton did to lose society's esteem, Lady Tarlton's reputation is still scarred. She has an affair with Dr. Darlington, and is astonished when he leaves the hospital, with no notice, so that his research findings will not be marred by his association with her.

Viscount Lord Tarlton, once governor-general of Australia. Lord Tarlton lacks depth and conviction and, according Dr. Airdrie (who loves gossip) is a “Tory messenger boy.” He is married to Lady Tarlton in name only.

Captain Alex Constable, a severely maimed soldier. It is hard for Sally to imagine how Captain Constable will survive his gruesome injuries. His face has been completely obliterated, except for one eye. Over his lengthy stay on the ward, Constable develops a friendship with the staff, using a pencil and paper for communication.

Lieutenant Sam Byers, a blinded Australian soldier. After Beyers is blinded in battle, the Jewish soldier finds himself under the care of Nurse Rosanna Nettice, who is sent away because of her special attention to Beyers, as the two have developed a deep friendship. In a cruel twist of irony, the blinded Beyers will have to forego his livelihood as a jeweler (the family trade for numerous generations). Though he blames himself for Nettice's punishment due to their friendship, he has a healthy attitude about his condition. When he is shipped back home, he is in the company of his new fiancé, Rosanna Nettice.

Colonel Leatherhead, an official sent to review the nurses' working conditions. A round man with hips wider than his shoulders, Colonel Leatherhead's appearance in the camp is welcomed by the nurses as divine vindication for their poor treatment. Sent to examine the working conditions following Freud's rape and Nettice's incarceration in a sanatorium, the Colonel is thorough and precise, interviewing each nurse individually. His findings bring vindication for those who have experienced abuse and unfair practices.

Dr. Penelope Airdrie, a Scottish surgeon at Lady Tarlton's Australian Voluntary Hospital. Petite and frizzy headed, Dr. Airdrie is considered a treasure, specially selected by Lady Tarlton to work at her newly created hospital. Dr. Airdrie has a melodic laugh and an honest, frank demeanor. She is un-abashed about her love of gossip. Because female physicians are such a rarity, Airdrie is more at home with the nurses that with Dr. Darlington. Dr. Airdrie dresses like men in a man's wool-lined skin and fur jacket and high leather boots. She seems completely unperturbed after Naomi rejects her when Airdrie confesses to having a physical attraction to Naomi.

Major Darlington, a physician at Lady Tarlton's Australian Voluntary Hospital. Primarily a scientist, the odd Major Darlington is the chief physician at the newly established Australian voluntary hospital. While he is devoted to patient care, he is also a researcher who suspects that having medical personnel wear face masks will cut down on infection in patients, and he begins a scientific study using his own in-house pathology lab. He is tall and slightly stooped, and often distracted but—more important—he is described as the “essence of the place.”

Dr. Maddox, the country physician who treats Mrs. Durance for cervical cancer, and who pronounces her dead when she succumbs to the disease.

Eric Durance, Sally and Naomi's father. Eric experiences grave loss after his wife succumbs to cervical cancer, and both of his daughters enlist as military nurses during World War I.

Mrs. Durance, Sally and Naomi's mother. Mrs. Durance dies from cervical cancer early in the novel. Her painful last days leave emotional scars for her daughters, who are tempted to euthanize her in their efforts to relieve her suffering.

Madame Flerieu, a woman on the Friends Committee of Clarity that reviews the betrothal of Ian Kiernan and Naomi. Madame Flerieu presents the greatest challenges to Ian and Naomi's betrothal, suggesting that by treating the wounded, they are simply healing the sick in order to send them back to the front lines to fight again, and are thus encouraging the battle.

Mrs. Enid Sorley, the Durances' neighbor, Mr. Durance's second wife. The widowed Mrs. Sorley is a genial and giving woman. Widowed after a tree falls on her husband, she never exhibits frailty over the loss. She promises the Durance girls that she will care for Mr. Durance, especially given the recent loss of his wife and daughters who are leaving to serve in the war.

Aunt Jackie, Sally and Naomi's aunt. Aunt Jackie is upbeat, even jolly, toward her nieces. She is ten years younger than their mother. She has a “gift for levity” that cheers her sullen nieces.

Matron Bolger, a nurse matron. A seasoned, calm presence, matron Bolger is described as robust and competent. She is the nurse matron at the casualty clearing station where Sally works.

Major Bright, chief medical officer for the casualty clearing stations where Sally works.

Captain Boynton, nurse Karla Freud's boyfriend. The American Captain Boynton plans to return to America after the war. Although he seems to have a great deal of patience for his girlfriend, Karla Freud makes no pretense of a future with him. He understands that she has been wounded by her war experience, and tolerates her unpredictability and bitterness.

Reverend Harris, a minister on board the Demeter that is headed home to Australia. Reverend Harris lets it slip to Naomi that a soldier on the Demeter has just committed suicide by jumping from the ship. This is a closely guarded secret because if word gets out, other soldiers might follow suit rather than return home, disgraced, with venereal disease. Later, the Reverend himself jumps overboard.