The protagonist of the novel, Bea is one of the eight characters from whose perspective the story unfolds. She’s an English girl, the only child of Reginald and Millie Thompson, who send her to the US to live with the Gregorys during World War II. During her short time there, Bea forms a deep connection with the family and the country, and she eventually returns to both to make a permanent home.

Bea is a stoic character who withstands great change and turmoil without succumbing to emotion. She puts on a brave face throughout her time in the US and doesn’t cry or show signs of homesickness. She even endures the deaths of people close to her with remarkable acceptance and forbearance. Despite inner feelings of conflict or struggle, Bea accepts what life brings with little complaint and adjusts well to different circumstances. She’s intelligent and hardworking, and despite her lack of a college education, she obtains a job as a nursery school teacher and rises in rank over time to eventually run the school.

Bea is the connecting link between both of the families whose stories the novel explores. She has a deep fondness for her own father, Reginald, as well as Ethan, the father in the Gregory family, though she doesn’t have much time with either one.