Isabel Finch / “Sal Lockton” / Isabel Gardener

Isabel Finch is the protagonist of Chains. Enslaved by the Finch family at the beginning of the novel, she and her younger sister, Ruth, are soon sold to the Locktons. Madam Lockton renames her “Sal Lockton,” and Isabel is called by both names throughout the duration of the narrative.

Isabel is clever and resourceful and, above all, deeply protective of her little sister. She weighs most of her choices throughout the novel in relation to their impact on Ruth and shows a willingness to put herself in harm’s way to spare Ruth consequences. Isabel endures many traumatic experiences throughout the narrative, but Madam selling Ruth is the one that breaks her.

When Isabel is forging a pass for herself before she decides to flee, she’s unsure which name to write—neither “Isabel Finch” nor “Sal Lockton” feel right. Instead, she gives herself a new name that honors her love of plants and growth, and her first home at the farm: Isabel Gardener.

In contrast to her outer reserve, Isabel is also revealed to place great value on memory, both personal and ancestral. In times of hardship, she often calls on “ghosts” for advice, comfort, and strength—the ghosts of her mother and father, but also the ghosts of her more distant ancestors. “I rowed and the tide pulled and the ghosts . . . tugged my boat with all their strength,” she says in chapter 45, explaining how she and Curzon made it safely across the river.

Ruth Finch/Lockton

Ruth is Isabel’s younger sister. She is just five years old during the novel’s events, and her safety provides the main motivation for Isabel’s actions. When they’re taken to the Lockton home, Madam vastly prefers Ruth to Isabel and trains her to be a lady’s maid.

Madam mentions early in the novel that she thinks Ruth looks “simple.” Isabel explains that she’s “good simple,” assuring Madam that Ruth is a harder worker than Isabel herself. The reality is more complicated—Ruth does work hard, but she’s also prone to seizures and is what we might today term neuroatypical. When she has a seizure in front of Madam one day, Madam thinks Ruth is possessed by the devil and insists that they sell her at once. Lockton refuses and decides that Ruth will be moved to the kitchen to work with Becky instead.

Isabel wakes one day to find that Ruth is missing, and Madam tells her she’s been sold to a physician’s family headed for Nevis. Eventually, Isabel learns this isn’t true—Ruth has been sent to Charleston, South Carolina, and Madam still owns her.

Curzon Bellingham

Curzon is an enslaved boy owned by Bellingham, and he meets Isabel in port when the Locktons first arrive in New York City. He’s aligned with the rebellion, and he convinces Isabel to listen for any useful information in the Loyalist Lockton home.

When the war begins in earnest, Curzon joins the rebel forces to fight for American independence. He survives but is eventually captured by British soldiers and taken to prison, where the conditions are dire. Isabel begins visiting him, doing favors for other rebels in exchange for his protection.

When Isabel escapes, she smuggles Curzon out of prison and takes him with her.

Madam Anne Lockton

The Locktons purchase Isabel and Ruth from Mr. Robert Finch in chapter 1.

Upon arrival at the Lockton home, Becky Berry warns Isabel of Madam’s cruelty. This warning proves to be accurate—Madam openly waits for Lady Seymour’s death so that she and her husband might inherit her fortune, physically and verbally abuses Isabel, and tells Isabel that Ruth has been sold. When Isabel responds angrily, Madam has her branded on the cheek with the letter “I” for “insolence.”

When Madam and Isabel have their final fight, Isabel learns that Madam lied—she didn’t sell Ruth but sent her to work in Charleston, South Carolina.

Elihu Lockton

Elihu Lockton is Madam’s husband. He is a British Loyalist, and most of his time and energy is spent orchestrating plans to subvert the rebellion—first to pay members of the rebel army to switch sides, then to kill General George Washington.

Lockton is shown to be less intentionally cruel toward Isabel and Ruth than his wife is, but exhibits abusive behavior toward Madam and only intervenes in her cruelty on rare occasions.

Lady Clarissa Seymour

Lady Seymour is Elihu Lockton’s aunt, and Lockton is very fond of her. Madam resents Lady Seymour for the attention she receives from her husband, and when she takes ill, Madam openly waits for her to die.

Lady Seymour is much kinder to Isabel and Ruth than the Locktons are—when Isabel goes to her house to tell her of Lockton’s arrest, she insists that Isabel finish all the cookies on the plate before she leaves. When Isabel rescues her from the house fire, Lady Seymour seems to feel indebted to Isabel—she buys her new, warm clothes and gives her nice shoes for Christmas, and when Isabel flees toward the novel’s close, Lady Seymour allows her to take a bag of coins from her room.

For the most part, Isabel feels kindly toward Lady Seymour, but they do have one challenging conversation in chapter 40. As Lady Seymour grows more and more feeble, she confesses how guilty she feels that she didn’t buy Isabel and Ruth from the Locktons when they first met, knowing how much better their life would have been in the Seymour home. “It would have eased her mind if I thanked her for wanting to buy me away from Madam,” Isabel realizes. “I tried to be grateful but could not. A body does not like being bought and sold like a basket of eggs, even if the person who cracks the shells is kind.”