Character Description: Myrtle Dunnage from Rosalie Ham's The Dressmaker
Myrtle (Tilly) Dunnage
Myrtaceae – a common shrub with dark shiny evergreen leaves, white scented flowers, black berries.
Myrtle:
Ancient civilizations believed that myrtle was a symbol of immortality
Romans displayed myrtle lavishly at feasts, weddings and celebrations and was often woven into bridal wreaths.
Egyptians used the plant to treat nervous afflictions.
French women drank tea made from crushed myrtle leaves, believing that it would help to preserve their youthful appearance and overall vigor.
Myrtle is the nickname for a family of shrubs and trees collectively known as Myrtaceae.
Myrtle is very popular as an insect repellent, for both human and animals.
In Greek mythology and ritual the myrtle was sacred to the goddesses Aphrodite and also Demeter.
Dunnage:
Loose wood, matting, or similar material used to keep a cargo in position in a ship's hold/ inexpensive or waste material used to protect and load securing cargo during transportation/ mats, brushwood, grating, etc. stowed under or among cargo to prevent wetting and chafing.
A person's belongings, especially those brought on board ship/miscellaneous baggage.
Physical description:
Slender, slim, pretty, dresses in trousers (1950s), a young woman, well dressed to the world-but strangely for the town’s society, exotic.
Details about them revealed in the narrative:
When Tilly is first introduced as a mysterious character, getting off the night bus in the fog, the readers know very little about her, but the inhabitants of the town allude to knowing something more about Myrtle and their connected past. As the book progresses, Tilly’s past is revealed; when she was a child she was targeted and victimised by her prejudiced and negligent schoolteacher (Miss Dimm), and abused physically, verbally and sexually by her schoolmates. Eventually, in what can be assumed to be her first attempt to stand up for herself, Tilly caused the death of Stewart Pettyman (Marigold and Evan’s son, and
Myrtaceae – a common shrub with dark shiny evergreen leaves, white scented flowers, black berries.
Myrtle:
Ancient civilizations believed that myrtle was a symbol of immortality
Romans displayed myrtle lavishly at feasts, weddings and celebrations and was often woven into bridal wreaths.
Egyptians used the plant to treat nervous afflictions.
French women drank tea made from crushed myrtle leaves, believing that it would help to preserve their youthful appearance and overall vigor.
Myrtle is the nickname for a family of shrubs and trees collectively known as Myrtaceae.
Myrtle is very popular as an insect repellent, for both human and animals.
In Greek mythology and ritual the myrtle was sacred to the goddesses Aphrodite and also Demeter.
Dunnage:
Loose wood, matting, or similar material used to keep a cargo in position in a ship's hold/ inexpensive or waste material used to protect and load securing cargo during transportation/ mats, brushwood, grating, etc. stowed under or among cargo to prevent wetting and chafing.
A person's belongings, especially those brought on board ship/miscellaneous baggage.
Physical description:
Slender, slim, pretty, dresses in trousers (1950s), a young woman, well dressed to the world-but strangely for the town’s society, exotic.
Details about them revealed in the narrative:
When Tilly is first introduced as a mysterious character, getting off the night bus in the fog, the readers know very little about her, but the inhabitants of the town allude to knowing something more about Myrtle and their connected past. As the book progresses, Tilly’s past is revealed; when she was a child she was targeted and victimised by her prejudiced and negligent schoolteacher (Miss Dimm), and abused physically, verbally and sexually by her schoolmates. Eventually, in what can be assumed to be her first attempt to stand up for herself, Tilly caused the death of Stewart Pettyman (Marigold and Evan’s son, and