Jane Wilkes Ryfield

Jane moves to Boyne City as an adult to teach second grade. She is single. Duncan is one of the first men she meets. She enters into a relationship with him, fully expecting that it will grow to include marriage someday. She is hurt when he says he will never marry. Jane almost marries a man named Luke and ends up seeing Duncan again after breaking up with Luke. Jane settles into her second relationship with Duncan prepared to accept that they will never take this to the next step, but they get up married, buy a larger house, and have two children.

Jane feels that many aspects of her life have been unsatisfactory. She has a tumultuous relationship with her mother Phyllis, who is overly critical. She feels cheated because Duncan proposed by saying they should get married to provide Jimmy with a home. She...