The Brothers Hawthorne

Grayson Hawthorne is the 20-year-old, second-born son of Skye Hawthorne. His father is Sheffield Grayson, one of the antagonists of the first three books in the series. Tobias Hawthorne had told Grayson that he would be the one to inherit the fortune, but Tobias Hawthorne left everything to Avery Kylie Grambs. Grayson cuts an imposing figure on purpose, often wearing a suit and keeping a steely exterior. He assumes the protector role in his family: “Protecting things that mattered was what Grayson Hawthorne did” (20). He holds himself to a perfect standard, informed by his upbringing under Tobias Hawthorne, whose words echo in his mind: “Why would a Hawthorne settle for better […] when they could be the best?” (7). 

At the start of the novel, because he believes that attachment creates risk, he holds himself at a distance from his half-sisters Savannah and Gigi Grayson, who don’t know he exists and don’t know anything about Sheffield Grayson’s crimes or death. Grayson assumes getting attached to his sisters will only bring trouble, “In and out [...] he wasn’t in Phoenix to forge relationships or tell the twins who he was. There was a situation to be handled. Grayson would handle it” (37). Grayson wants to suppress his emotions so that he can keep his parentage a secret from the twins, but instead, he forms a connection with Gigi but eventually betrays her and Savannah when he hides Sheffield’s coded journal. Only once Grayson admits that he’s hurting, or in Jameson’s words, “is not okay” (433), can he confront his fear of love and embrace a reconciled relationship with his sisters and the possibility of a romantic relationship one day.

Avery Kylie Grambs is the 18-year-old heiress to Tobias Hawthorne’s fortune and the protagonist of the original trilogy. In The Brothers Hawthorne, she’s traveling to prepare to launch her foundation, which will be the vehicle to give away most of Tobias Hawthorne’s fortune. As a young heiress, she uses her social capital to help her boyfriend, Jameson, gain an invitation to the Devil’s Mercy and the Proprietor’s Game. She’s smart, according to both Jameson and Grayson, and quick-witted. She loves puzzles and games; her “brain [is] just as wired for puzzles as [Jameson’s is]” (14). Avery is perceptive, able to read both Jameson’s and Grayson’s moods, and she challenges them to speak honestly. She loves Jameson, is willing to trust him even when he holds secrets that may affect her, and believes he will tell her when the time is right. Avery creates the idea for The Grandest Game, a large-scale puzzle with a large prize that Jameson will run every year.

Juliet (Gigi) Grayson, the younger of Sheffield Grayson’s twin 16-year-old daughters with Acacia Grayson, is Grayson Hawthorne’s half-sister. She has brown, wavy hair and bright blue eyes. Grayson describes her as “beaming like it was her default state” and “the human ray of sunshine” (40). Gigi renamed herself at two years old “and brought everyone else over to [her] side by sheer force of will” (44). Gigi is willing to trust Grayson immediately and believes at first that he might work for her dad, whom she’s trying to find. Gigi knows how to pick locks and initiates much of the snooping around both her father’s and Mr. Trowbridge’s offices. Gigi quickly forgives Grayson for not confessing they share a father, and she’s willing to trust and work with him; however, when she learns that Grayson lied and sabotaged their search, she cuts off contact. Gigi returns at the end of the novel, forgives Grayson, and creates a plan to keep the truth of Sheffield’s guilt a secret from Savannah because Savannah has always protected her: “I mean, she knew about [Grayson] for years, about Dad’s affair, and she did everything she could to make sure I didn’t have to know. And all of this? With Dad? She doesn’t have to know” (455).

Savannah Grayson is the older of Sheffield Grayson’s twin daughters and Grayson Hawthorne’s half-sister. Savannah has “pale blonde hair” and an icy exterior (88). She’s a basketball player and dresses in pleated skirts and heels. At the start of the novel, she’s dating Kent Trowbridge’s son. Gigi describes the relationship as the “expected” thing for Savannah to do. Like Grayson, Savannah views herself as a protector, and she warns Grayson away from her sister: “‘You are not wanted here.’ Savannah sold that statement, wholly and completely. And all Grayson could think was that she had his eyes” (92). When she turned 14, Savannah learned that her father had a son, Grayson, and she resents her mother for not fighting Sheffield over the affair. As a result of her father’s obsession with his nephew Colin, Savannah threw herself into basketball as a young girl. When her father decided girls shouldn’t be tough, she then tried to make herself less of an athlete. Savannah does not come to trust Grayson by the end of the novel, and Eve suggests that she plans to undermine Savannah and Grayson’s relationship as revenge in the sequel.

Ian Johnstone-Jameson is a professional gambler, the third-born son of a wealthy family, and Jameson Hawthorne’s biological father. Ian is “mid-forties with thick brown hair kept just long enough that he couldn’t pass for your typical CEO or politician” (26). Jameson, when he first meets Ian, recognizes a resemblance in how he and his father hold themselves: “There was something achingly familiar about his features—definitely not his nose or jaw, but the shape and color of his eyes, the curl of his lips. The amusement” (26). Ian reaches out to Jameson only to use him in the Proprietor’s Game so Ian can win back Vantage, which he lost in poorly calculated risk. Ian double-crosses Jameson, asking him to quit so that Katherine can win as part of some other deal he’s made. Simon, Ian’s brother and Jameson’s uncle, describes Ian as someone who “shirk[s] his responsibilities” (399), including caring for Jameson.

Simon Johnstone-Jameson is “the eldest son and heir of the Earl of Wycliffe” and is often referred to by his title, Viscount Branford (163). Simon, “a man with thick red hair and features that looked carved from stone” (157), is a fellow player in the Game and Jameson’s uncle. Just like Jameson, Simon must wager a secret to enter the Game, and it’s revealed that he has a son, with a title, who would stand to lose quite a bit if anyone knew his true father was Simon. Simon, like Grayson, takes on responsibility for his brothers, and he manages the trust for Vantage—first for Ian, then for Jameson. Unlike Ian, Simon immediately claims responsibility for Jameson as a member of the family and expects Jameson to accept his protection and help. Simon approves of Jameson’s sacrifice to save Zella at the end of the game, calling it honorable.

Zella, a duchess, is a mid-twenties Black woman with long, braided hair and a clipped British accent. She has a wry sense of humor and a keen understanding of British high society: “Some of us just exist a little too loudly for the comfort of those who would prefer we did not exist at all” (68). Zella offers a tentative alliance with Avery as they both navigate the Devil’s Mercy. Zella, as a reward for successfully infiltrating the Mercy without a direct invitation, is brought into the Game. She and Rohan have an undisclosed connection that creates tension throughout the Game. Zella puts her life at risk to force Jameson to give her the final key, and he does. Zella, rather than claim the win herself, gives the key to Katherine, who has made some other deal with her. Zella reveals at the end of the book that she will design next year’s Game and challenge Rohan for the inheritance of the Mercy from the Proprietor.