ETA: I’ve removed “Recent Comments” from the sidebar to avoid spoilers due to this topic. PLEASE make sure you follow the instructions on how to comment below—thank you!!
I asked this question a few days ago on Twitter, but I’ve been thinking about it more. Since today is Memorial Day in the US, a day of barbecue, the unofficial start of summer, and a day of remembering those who died in military service. According to the wikipedia entry, Memorial Day’s history begins in the Civil War: “Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the civil war, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not.”
(Can I say, as an aside, “Happy” Memorial Day seems to be the most ludicrous thing to say to someone? Have a great funeral! Merry Yom Kippur! Festive Good Friday! Anyway.)
Because today is all about remembering people, I wanted to ask you a question, and I’ve been struggling with ways to do this, since the answers you provide may be incredibly spoiler-y for other readers.
Which characters from books that you’ve read do you still mourn? Whose deaths in fiction do you still think about?
Here’s how I’d like to politely request you format your answer. At the top of your comment, please put the book or series your comment is about, with or without the author name, and then hit the return key a bunch of time to drop your answer down. That way, if someone doesn’t want to read about that series or book, they can skip to the next one – or avoid the comment thread all together.
My answer is below the fold.
JR Ward, Black Dagger Brotherhood Series
One character I think about still, years later, is Wellsie from JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I probably should have known she wouldn’t survive the series because she was so strong a female (heh) but her kindness to John Matthew and her innate goodness left a profound impression on me when I read the series. I still remember the scene where she made rice with ginger in it for John Matthew, whose stomach was upset constantly, and my out-loud cry of “NO” when I read what happened to her.
What about you? Which deceased fictional characters do you still mourn?
