Paradise Study Guide

Convent Residents

• Consolata (Connie) : Brought to Convent as child by Reverend Mother Mary Magna. Begins drinking heavily after Mary Magna's death. Considered the leader/mother figure of the Convent women.
• Mavis : Housewife who leaves her family after accidentally killing her young twins Merle and Pearl. Arrives at the Convent after running out of gas while on the way to California. Stays, leaves and returns to the Convent often. Seems paranoid, once saying that her own children have been poisoned in the head by their father and are plotting to kill her, seeing figures of her husband that may not actually be there. Constantly fights with Gigi.
• Grace (Gigi) : Attractive, strongly opinionated, free-spirited woman who left her imprisoned boyfriend Mikey Rood. Has a two-year fling with K.D. that ends badly.
• Seneca : Abandoned as a child and living in several foster homes. Encouraged to leave her imprisoned boyfriend Eddie Turtle by his mother. Becomes Gigi's roommate. Secretly cuts herself. Has low self-esteem, always trying to please others. Abused by Eddie who makes her feel worthless by always yelling at her and telling her she can't do anything right.
• Pallas (Divine) Truelove : Sixteen-year-old girl from a rich family. Ran away with and was betrayed by her lover Carlos. Brought to Convent by Billie Delia. Nicknamed Divine by Gigi after her mother.

Ruby Townspeople

The Morgan Family

• Deacon "Deek" Morgan : Steward's twin, brother of Ruby Morgan. Grandson of one of the founders of Haven. Hold a great deal of influence in town. Own/run the town bank. Married to Soane, lost both of their sons in the Vietnam War. Known to be the subtler of the Morgan twins. Both Morgan twins are stuck in the old ways and are concerned with upholding tradition. They use their ownership of the bank to control the town and take power away from others.
• Steward Morgan : Deacon's twin, brother of Ruby Morgan. Grandson of one of the founders of Haven. Hold a great deal of influence in town. Own/run the town bank. Married to Dovey, they are unable to have children as both are infertile. Known for his inflammatory speech. Both Morgan twins are stuck in the old ways and are concerned with upholding tradition. They use their ownership of the bank to control the town and take power away from others.
• Dovey Morgan : Steward's wife. Miscarried several times and cannot have children. Is having an affair with a stranger.
• Soane Morgan : Deacon's wife. Lost two sons in war. She went to the Convent to abort her third child. When Connie wouldn't help her, Soane lost the baby. She had never intended to abort the baby, but wanted to let Connie know that she knew about Connie's affair with Deek. She believes that she lost her baby because of this ruse.
• K.D. (Kentucky Derby) Morgan : Son of Ruby Morgan. Known for chasing women, but largely protected by family's reputation. He is considered the heir of the town and is under the protection of his uncles, Deacon and Steward.
• Ruby Morgan : was the first person to die within the town and the town was named after her.

The Cato/Best Family

• Roger Best : First to marry outside of Ruby townspeople. His wife looked white and their children are light-skinned, which gave the family a negative reputation in town.
• Patricia Best : Daughter of Roger Best, widow of Billy Cato. Teacher researching town history.
• Billie Delia Cato : Daughter of Patricia Best and Billy Cato. Thought to be the town's "fast" girl. In love with brothers Apollo and Brood Poole, moved out of town after fight with mother.

The Fleetwood Family

• Arnold "Fleet" Fleetwood : Father of Jefferson and Arnette Fleetwood. Married to Mable Fleetwood. Sleeps on a hideaway in the dining room. Owes the bank money.
• Mable Fleetwood :Married to Arnold Fleetwood. Spends all her time working with Sweetie to care for Sweetie and Jeff's four surviving children.
• Jefferson Fleetwood : Son of Arnold and Mable Fleetwood. Threatened to shoot K.D. for mistreating Arnette. Controlling. Fought in the Vietnam War. Married Sweetie
• Sweetie Fleetwood : Jefferson's wife. Gave birth to children who are mentally and physically damaged, and spends all of her time caring for them.
• Arnette Fleetwood : Jefferson's younger sister. Planning to attend Langston for college. Made advances on K.D. at socials and whenever possible, eventually became pregnant by K.D. around fifteen years old. Attempted to abort, but gave birth at Convent and abandoned baby.

Albright Family

• Frank Albright : Mavis's husband, who seems to be abusive
• Sally Albright : Also goes by Sal, Mavis believes that Sal wants to kill her because Sal believes that Mavis killed the twins on purpose
• Frank and Billy Albright : Mavis and Frank's sons
• Merle and Pearl : The deceased twins that suffocated in the car when Mavis ran inside the grocery store.

Others

• Anna Flood : Daughter of Ace Flood. Inherited her father's store. Involved with Richard Misner. Left Ruby for Detroit and came back when her father died.
• Richard Misner : Younger reverend involved with Anna Flood.
• Senior Pulliam : Older reverend constantly at odds with Misner.
• Lone DuPres : Adopted daughter of Fairy DuPres. Midwife who became unpopular after supposedly causing the defects in Sweetie's children. Taught black magic to Connie.
• Norma Keene Fox : A wealthy women who hires Seneca for sexual humiliation while her husband is away. She pays her 500 dollars and gives her a nice place to stay and feeds her well for three weeks.
• David : Norma Keene Fox's limo driver. He also hunts out the girls for Mrs Fox.
• Eddie Turtle : Seneca's ex-boyfriend who is now in jail.