Character lists My novel sequence, Dancing while we may , is a pastoral saga spread over many generations. The characters have ancestors, descendants, relations and friends spreading out like ripples in a pond. Consequently, there are lots of names; there’s no escaping it – particularly in the case of Cadmun Gale, whose progeny is almost as plentiful as stalks in a hayrick. It isn’t necessary for the reader to keep track of all the people, any more than it’s necessary to fix in mind every tree when walking through a forest. The intention is that the reader builds up a sense of perspective on the journey, recognising those characters who gather in the narrative’s foreground, allowing the others to perform in the background – the middle or far distance. A multi-layered tapestry should result, the principal players acting their roles against a backdrop of daily life. As for those passages in the early part of Cadmun Gale in which Eliza introduces Leafy to Gale genealogy – the reader isn’t expected to remember all those names any more than poor Leafy can. It’s not a memory test; what’s important is the reader’s awareness of the growing friendship between Leafy and Eliza, and of the latter’s fizzy sense of humour. Eliza’s having a good time confusing the new girl – and she’d no doubt be equally delighted at the befuddled reader. But some readers will want to follow the various lineages and connections. Indeed, a study of them may even add detail to aspects of the unfolding narrative. Most of the individual novels have character lists added as appendices, but – for ease of reference – they’re drawn together in these free-to-download documents. There are pretty pictures too. The lists for Babylon House and Cadmun Gale are offered separately from the others for two reasons: first, the action in the two said books taking place largely in Somerset and Cornwall, only a very few characters are shared between these and the other novels; secondly, Kip Gale’s family is so vast that it warrants a document all of its own. Download at will – and have fun! Kevin Corby Bowyer, Muirkirk, January 20, 2024