Flavia de Luce

## Character summary

When we first meet Flavia in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, she is eleven years old, in summer 1950. She lives in her ancestral home Buckshaw on the edge of the village of Bishop's Lacey, with her close family (father, two sisters) and staff (Dogger, Mrs Mullet).

We quickly learn, and appreciate further throughout the books, that she has astonishing skills, attributes and talents for a girl of her age.

* Practical: in the very first chapter, she can get herself out of a cupboard in which she's been locked by her vengeful sisters
* Knowledgable: her references to art, music, film, literature, history, religion, science, murder are on almost every page
* Scientific: she mentions historical scientists and conducts her own experiments
* Troubled: many of her asides consist of her worries about her family, and her interest in poisons
* Vulnerable: she wouldn't like to hear it, but her life is difficult
* Intuitive: you can count on her to come up with a non-obvious idea
* Daring: she puts herself in scary situations willingly
* Defiant: but terribly polite
* Religious: regular church attendances, a vast knowledge of religious history, a special love of her local church even though it's Anglican
* Sceptical: of human nature and those around her, but perhaps not God, as a good Catholic girl
* Curious: both intellectually and in a snooping, diary-reading, appropriating way
* Innocent: 1950s England - Flavia's knowledge of sex is patchy
* Reflective: on herself and her family and its history, and with many synonymous references
* Mendacious: she frequently lies to other characters, exaggerates, and perhaps also hides things
* Thieving, although only household items from her family
* Nature-loving: feel the joy! as she rides through the British countryside
* Animal-loving: Esmerelda the chicken, cats
* Largely self-taught: she does at some point go to school, and has previously had a governess, but she and apparently her sisters are mostly home-schooled by themselves
* Adorable: she maybe shouldn't be, but the author Alan Bradley makes her an absolute darling

## Age

Flavia does grow in the series: Books 1, 2, 3 and 4 take place in 1950 when Flavia is 11, although sometimes seen as only 10. Book 5 sees Flavia into early 1951, and book 6 is set in April 1951 when she is still apparently 11. Apart from the short story The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse, which presumably takes place in the summer of 1951, we next hear from Flavia in September 1951 when she is twelve. Flavia makes many references to events which we've learned about in previous books.

## Appearance

All of the stories are written from the perspective of Flavia, and she doesn't give much importance to describing herself. The crumbs we can assemble are that she:

* Has long hair, because she plaits them, even though she finds this annoying, and her hair is mousy or dark, not blond,
* Looks extremely like her dead mother, Harriet
* Is tall for her age
* Has, or can invoke, "the de Luce stare": cold blue eyes, also described as violet

That's our girl! Doesn't care much whether you know what she looks like. Doesn't really say a lot about how other people look, either.

## Back story

Born in 1930 to Harriet de Luce and Colonel Haviland de Luce. Harriet was a de Luce before she met Haviland, her distant cousin. Harriet therefore didn't have to change her name and all the family's wealth, including Buckshaw, was always hers.

Harriet dies/disappears when Flavia is one year old therefore still too young to remember her, on a mountaineering trip to Tibet.

Her father comes back from the war a broken man after his time in a prisoner of war camp in Japan, accompanied by his faithful friend Dogger, to whom he offers a job as general handyman/factotum.

As the family has financial problems due to Harriet not leaving a will/testament at her death/disappearance, Flavia grows up in a decaying Buckshaw. Her sisters, who are both just old enough to remember their mother, apparently despise Flavia. One of their preferred teasing methods is to tell Flavia that she's adopted, or switched as a changeling.

There is an undefined period in which a governess teaches the girls, and Flavia's propensity for chemical experiments (especially her earlier, more explosive ones) may have been the reason she left. Flavia was also a member of the Girl Guides until her explusion, again mostly for chemical reasons. Since then she and her sisters appear to have been home-schooled by themselves, which is not terribly worrying for Flavia with her chemistry and Daffy with her books, but one must wonder about Feely!

###### Life within books

Flavia's events, discoveries and learnings are the subject of the books so saying much more here would constitute a spoiler. Let's just say that a major change occurs in book 4, and book 7 sees her travel away from Buckshaw.