Ree Dolly

Ree Dolly is the 16-year-old protagonist of the novel. Her parents are Jessup and Connie. Sonny and Harold are her younger brothers. After her mother's mental health deteriorates, and her father begins spending more and more time away from home, Ree assumes a parental role in her brothers' lives. Her mother's incapacitated and over-medicated state, her father's unreliability, compels Ree to worry about Sonny and Harold's futures. She struggles to provide food for them and keep them in school. Matters worsen when the local sheriff tells Ree Jessup has skipped bail. If he fails to appear for his court date, the family will lose their home and property. Determined to keep her family from complete destitution, Ree sets out to find her father.

Despite her Aunt Victoria and Uncle Teardrop's warnings, Ree ventures to Hawkfall in search of information regarding Jessup's whereabouts. She is convinced that because...