A Taste of Honey Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Jo

A working-class Salford schoolgirl with real artistic talent, raised entirely by Helen and desperate to escape her. She gains independence, love, pregnancy and abandonment in quick succession — and ends up facing motherhood almost entirely alone.

Appears in:: Part 1: A Flat with No Landing Light; Part 2: A Ring on a String; Part 3: The Wedding and the Winter After; Part 4: Geoff, and the Tune He Left Behind
Themes:: Mothers who won't mother; Race and illegitimacy in 1950s Britain; Class and the kitchen sink; Sex, secrecy and the age of consent

Helen

Jo's hard-drinking single mother, a 'good time girl' living off her lovers, sharp-tongued and selfish yet capable of sudden fierce concern. She marries Peter, loses him, and returns to claim Jo's home just as the baby is due.

Appears in:: Part 1: A Flat with No Landing Light; Part 2: A Ring on a String; Part 3: The Wedding and the Winter After; Part 4: Geoff, and the Tune He Left Behind
Themes:: Mothers who won't mother; Race and illegitimacy in 1950s Britain; Class and the kitchen sink; Chosen family and its limits; Sex, secrecy and the age of consent

Peter

Helen's younger, wealthy boyfriend from London, surprised by her age but proposing anyway. He marries her, then discards her — and drunk, snatches back even the money he'd offered Jo.

Appears in:: Part 1: A Flat with No Landing Light; Part 2: A Ring on a String; Part 4: Geoff, and the Tune He Left Behind
Themes:: Mothers who won't mother; Class and the kitchen sink

Jimmy (The Boy)

A black sailor who proposes to Jo and gives her a ring to hide around her neck. He sails away for six months and never returns, leaving her pregnant.

Appears in:: Part 2: A Ring on a String; Part 3: The Wedding and the Winter After
Themes:: Race and illegitimacy in 1950s Britain; Sex, secrecy and the age of consent

Geoff

A gay art student in his early twenties who becomes Jo's flatmate, critic and surrogate family. He offers marriage out of need, cares for her devotedly, and finally leaves rather than let Helen's return pull Jo in two.

Appears in:: Part 4: Geoff, and the Tune He Left Behind
Themes:: Chosen family and its limits; Sex, secrecy and the age of consent

How they are connected

Key relationships

Jo Helen
A working-class Salford schoolgirl with real artistic talent, raised entirely by Helen and desperate to escape her.
Helen Peter
She marries Peter, loses him, and returns to claim Jo's home just as the baby is due.
Peter Jo
He marries her, then discards her — and drunk, snatches back even the money he'd offered Jo.
Jimmy (The Boy)Jo
A black sailor who proposes to Jo and gives her a ring to hide around her neck.
Geoff Jo
A gay art student in his early twenties who becomes Jo's flatmate, critic and surrogate family.
Geoff Helen
He offers marriage out of need, cares for her devotedly, and finally leaves rather than let Helen's return pull Jo in two.

Go deeper

A Taste of Honey themes & symbols

Mothers who won't mother · Race and illegitimacy in 1950s Britain · Class and the kitchen sink · Chosen family and its limits

Themes explained

Read the full A Taste of Honey summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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