Brimstone

A mute midwife who communicates through sign language, Liz is perceptive, resilient, and decisive under extreme pressure. She makes morally complex choices to protect her children and others, even when those choices carry heavy guilt. Her arc traces a mother’s fierce determination in a world that often silences and punishes women. Liz endures trauma while preserving a fragile sense of family and agency.

A powerful, manipulative preacher who weaponizes religious authority to commit abuse and murder. His charm masks cruelty and a ruthless hunger for control, driving the acts of violence that frame the story. He embodies the corrupting influence of zealotry within a tightly knit community. His arc culminates in a violent confrontation that exposes the darkness beneath piety.

Liz’s husband, a frontier farmer who acts as a protective, if sometimes flawed, patriarch. He is drawn into the escalating danger and ultimately killed by the Reverend, becoming a catalyst for Liz’s desperation and resolve. Eli’s presence anchors the family’s suffering and, in his death, underscores the fragility of life in this frontier world.

A young desert girl who endures exploitation and tragedy before becoming a pivotal ally to Liz. She learns sign language from Elizabeth and embodies resilience, ultimately confronting the Reverend in a bid for freedom. Joanna’s journey from victim to a catalyst for change highlights growth through trauma.

Joanna’s mother and the Reverend’s wife, who endures his cruelty and ultimately takes a drastic stand against him. Her actions reveal the crushing impact of patriarchal abuse and the ways women respond to it, including secret resistance and a final act of defiance. Her presence underscores the cost of religious and familial tyranny.

One of the last survivors of a violent gold dispute, he and a companion traverse a harsh desert after a deadly contest. Samuel’s endurance and moral choices amid scarcity illuminate the harsh realities of frontier life and the human costs of greed and conflict.

Husband of the woman who dies early in the story, Nathan later becomes a deputy and sheriff who relentlessly pursues Liz. His pursuit embodies the pursuit of law and order turned personal vendetta, highlighting how vengeance can warp justice in a frontier town.

Liz and Eli’s son, a witness to the family’s trials whose later life mirrors the lasting impact of the frontier’s violence. His presence marks the generational consequences of the family’s trauma and the burden of memory on the next generation.

Liz’s daughter, who grows into a figure shaped by her mother’s example and the era’s brutality. Sam represents continuity and memory, a living link to Liz’s legacy as she builds a life that remembers the sacrifices made for family.