Time of the Child

Ronnie is another of the novel’s primary characters. The narrator is limited to her point of view in Chapter 3. Ronnie is Jack’s eldest daughter and lives with her father in Faha, where she helps him at Avalon House. She is 29 in the narrative present and has two younger sisters, Sophie and Charlotte. Although still a young woman, Ronnie makes “it seem she [has] put girlhood far behind her” and has carried herself with a “composed look [since] her mother died” (7). Both of Ronnie’s sisters have moved away from Faha, while she has stayed. Her “natural reserve” isn’t inspired by bitterness but by her work with Jack and her bookish habits. When she isn’t working with Jack, Ronnie enjoys reading and writing. She used to write short stories to share with her sisters but has adopted writing as a private practice in the present. Because her quiet and withholding father is the person she spends most of her time with, Ronnie’s “closest companion [is] her notebook, and it alone [knows] what she [is] feeling” (7).

Ronnie is a patient, tolerant, and dynamic character who changes throughout the novel. At the novel’s start, she is convinced that her life in Faha is the life she wants. She used to write about visiting England or Paris but has come to find her home village most suitable to her adult sensibility. Working with her father has given her something to write about and made her life feel meaningful. Therefore, when Charlotte urges her to move away and get married, Ronnie doesn’t give in. She also scoffs at the idea that Jack wants her to marry Noel because she has no interest in finding a partner. She is content with the expected nature of her circumstances and believes that the changelessness of her surroundings is comforting and secure. Taking care of Noelle, however, alters Ronnie’s perspective on herself and her future. The baby opens her heart in ways she previously thought impossible, showing her The Redemptive Power of Love. She falls in love with Noelle as soon as Jude and Tim-Tom bring her to the Troys’ doorstep. Initially, Ronnie worries that she doesn’t have the maternal instinct required to care for Noelle, but she quickly realizes that love is all Noelle needs. Her determination to keep the baby no matter the cost is inspired by her desire to fulfill a higher purpose and protect Noelle. She doesn’t end up marrying Noel, but she does make amends with her father and decides to continue living with him after their marriage-related miscommunications. This decision supports The Strength of Familial Bonds. Ronnie thus proves herself to be loving, forgiving, and family oriented.

Jude is another of the novel’s primary characters. The narrator inhabits his consciousness in Chapter 2 and describes the narrative world via his lens. Jude is 12 years old in the narrative present. He lives in Faha with his mother; father, Pat; and sisters, Mary and Una. The family are farmers and raise cattle to sell at local markets. On the day of the Christmas Fair, Jude is hopeful that he and Pat will sell their cows and make the money they need to enjoy the holiday. However, he knows “the full dimension of his father’s nature” and fears that Pat’s drinking and gambling habits might compromise their chances of doing well at the market (66).

Jude therefore feels trapped in Faha because of his age, his father’s irresponsibility, and his family’s financial woes. Furthermore, Jude’s father blames him for his older brother Patrick’s death years prior. Patrick’s death was an accident, but Pat is convinced that God took his eldest son in exchange for saving Jude as a baby after Pat threw him in the air and dropped him on the concrete. Jude lives with this emotional weight and is often desperate to find his life’s purpose to prove that God saved him for a distinct reason.

Jude is responsible for finding the baby behind the church on the night of the fair. Discovering and delivering the child to the Troys grants Jude a sense of meaning and purpose. The experience also makes him realize that miracles are indeed possible. Except for Chapter 2, Jude is a peripheral character. The novel uses him as a device to bring the baby into the narrative world and deepen the text’s thematic explorations.

Noelle is a baby and secondary character who advances the central plot. Jude finds her abandoned on the steps behind the church on the night of the Christmas Fair. The novel does not provide any details as to who or why she was left there. Deceased when she first arrives at Jack’s house, the doctor successfully revives her. Jack and Ronnie subsequently take her in, devoting themselves to her care despite the challenge it poses in their Catholic community where raising a child as a single, unmarried woman is not acceptable. The baby is initially unnamed, but Ronnie decides on the name Noelle and wants her to be christened. 

Noelle is very young, as she is fed milk with a syringe. She is affectionate and loving, and her existence changes the characters’ lives forever. The baby proves to Jude that miracles are possible and that God has indeed saved him for a reason. For Jack and Ronnie, Noelle shows them that “the world [can in fact] be different” and propels them regarding The Interplay Between Statis and Change (101). The Troys have “secretly [been] hoping for a chance to love properly” (6). Noelle offers them this opportunity; as a character, she plays a central role in The Redemptive Power of Love. 

Noelle appears in Faha during the Advent season. Her arrival thus parallels the Biblical birth of Jesus. In the same way that Jesus’ birth represents hope, salvation, and love in the Christian tradition, Noelle represents the same uplifting possibilities to Jude, Jack, and Ronnie. Jack and Ronnie particularly believe that God has “brought [Noelle] to [their] house” and “seen to it that [Ronnie] would love her” (241). The child is a gift and a blessing that opens their hearts and transforms their outlook on life. While the characters initially fear that she will not be accepted, by the novel’s end, community members are passing her from pew to pew; this signals her acceptance into Faha society.

Father Tom is a secondary character. He is the priest, or Canon, at the local Catholic church and thus a fixture in the Faha community. Therefore, when he falters while leading Mass on the first Sunday of Advent, the townspeople worry that something is wrong with him. This moment from Chapter 1 incites the Faha villagers’ concern throughout the novel, as Tom’s health becomes the subject of much debate. Indeed, Jack finds him wandering around in the dark by the river, and Father Coffey repeatedly calls Jack to the parish to check on Tom. Coffey wants Tom to be committed to a psychiatric hospital because he doesn’t think the elder priest is fit to lead the congregation.

Tom’s character is a narrative device used to grant perspective to Jack’s character. Jack knows that Tom is unwell and that his dementia will continue to progress. However, he refuses to have Tom hospitalized because he empathizes with him. Via Tom and Jack’s relationship, the novel reiterates Jack’s loving nature.

Father Coffey is a minor character. He is the curate at the Faha parish. Because he is younger than Father Tom, Coffey doubts Tom’s ability to lead the congregation much longer. Tom’s overt signs of memory loss and disorientation cause Coffey to “picture any number of appalling outcomes” and pursue hospitalization for the Canon (52)—efforts that Jack ultimately thwarts.

Coffey is a pious man who abides by the Catholic Church’s tradition. For this reason, the Troys fear that if he discovers Noelle in their house, he’ll immediately have her sent away. Coffey indeed tries to interfere with the baby, but his and Jack’s intimate conversations soften his heart. He is moved hearing Jack’s reasons behind keeping the child, “the same way he always [is] by the truth, which [has] an intimacy that [is] privileged and tender” (240). Coffey thus proves himself capable of empathy. He doesn’t have the child removed from the Troys’ home and even tolerates her crying during the Christmas Mass.