Characters A Sweet Sting of Salt Rose Sutherland

Josephine “Jo” Keddy: First Love, Loyal Friend, and Symbol of Agency

Overview

Josephine “Jo” Keddy is Jean Langille’s first love and a pivotal figure in her emotional history. Though Jo appears in only a handful of scenes, her influence runs through the novel like an undertow. She is the golden-haired, bright-eyed girl who shared secret kisses with Jean behind barns and lofts, only to be forced into a marriage with Victor before their relationship could be discovered. Years later, Jo re-enters Jean’s life not as a lost love but as a friend who helps Jean shed guilt and isolation. Through Jo, the novel explores how queer love can be suppressed by family pressure, and how reconnecting with the past can heal rather than reopen wounds.

Plot Role

Jo’s primary function in the story is to catalyze Jean’s emotional growth. In the present timeline (November 1832), Jean lives as a solitary midwife, haunted by the loss of Jo and, more recently, by the mysterious pregnant woman Muirin. Jo’s return in Chapter 20 is the turning point that allows Jean to release her self-blame. When Jean apologizes for the night Jo’s mother discovered them, Jo firmly rejects Jean’s responsibility, explaining that her mother had already been suspicious and that Victor turned out to be a kind husband. This conversation gives Jean permission to stop carrying the weight of Jo’s marriage. Jo also becomes the first person Jean trusts with hints of her relationship with Muirin, and their renewed friendship provides Jean with emotional support during the dangerous plan to free Muirin. By the epilogue, Jo is not physically present, but her legacy—Jean’s newfound willingness to trust and accept help—remains.

Motivations and Traits

Jo is characterized by her directness, loyalty, and subtle bravery. When she returns to Barquer’s Bay, she does not dance around the awkwardness: she states “I’ve missed you” and acknowledges her mother’s wrongdoing. She shows emotional maturity by taking responsibility for her own choice to marry Victor, insisting it was not Jean’s fault. Her motivation throughout is to restore their friendship and ensure Jean is all right. Jo is not passive; she confronted her mother before leaving town, stating she would not let her mother dictate her friendships forever. She also admits she considered refusing the marriage but lacked the courage to fight her parents. This honesty makes her relatable.

Character Arc

Jo’s arc is told in retrospect and through her reunion with Jean. Before the novel begins, Jo evolves from a carefree teenager sharing kisses with Jean to a young wife whisked away to a Francophone village. She describes those early months as difficult—she and Victor had to learn to love each other—but they succeeded. By the time she reappears, she is pregnant and happy, yet still deeply connected to her past. Her arc shows that agency can be reclaimed even after coercion: she chose to make the best of her marriage, and she chose to return to Jean. Her growth is mirrored in Jean’s: Jo teaches Jean that not every problem is hers to fix, a lesson Jean must apply to her rescue of Muirin.

Relationships

With Jean Langille: Their bond is the emotional backbone of Jean’s past. As children they were inseparable; as teens they became lovers. After Jo’s marriage, Jean carries guilt and grief for years. When Jo returns, she offers unconditional friendship, dismissing Jean’s apologies and seeking to reconnect. Their physical reunion—an arm-in-arm walk down to the wagon—symbolically restores their partnership. Jo is also the first person to whom Jean hints about Muirin, trusting her with a dangerous secret.

With Victor Keddy (her husband): Victor was a quiet suitor who, according to Jo, had no idea he was being used as a tool by Mrs. Keddy. Jo reveals that Victor felt awful when he learned the truth and offered to sleep in the barn. Over time they built a genuine, loving marriage. Jo’s description of Victor as “the kindest man” and her acknowledged love for him counter Jean’s worst fears. Their relationship demonstrates that a forced marriage can become a consensual partnership, though the novel does not endorse coercion.

With her mother, Mrs. Keddy: Jo’s mother is the antagonist of their backstory. She suspected Jo’s closeness with Jean, forbade the friendship, and orchestrated the hasty marriage. Jo states that her mother “got just wild” when Jo mentioned living with Jean, and threatened to pick a husband for her if she didn’t accept Victor. Jo’s later action of telling her mother she was “a dreadful woman” shows her regaining her voice.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  1. Accepting Victor’s proposal: Jo agreed to marry Victor under pressure from her mother. The immediate consequence was her departure from Barquer’s Bay and the loss of her friendship with Jean. The longer consequence was a stable, eventually loving marriage. Jo does not regret saying yes, but she acknowledges she had no real choice.
  2. Returning to visit Jean: Jo chose to stay with her friend Bess and seek out Jean, despite knowing the town’s gossip and her mother’s disapproval. This decision reopens the friendship and provides Jean with emotional closure, enabling Jean to focus on helping Muirin.
  3. Telling Jean the truth about her marriage: Jo chose to be vulnerable and share her private story, including her pregnancy. This deepens their trust and allows Jean to stop blaming herself.
  4. Accepting Jean’s help with her own life: When Jean offers to give advice, Jo accepts, signaling that their relationship has evolved into one of mutual support rather than dependent love.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Jo embodies the theme of Queer Love and Agency. Her forced marriage illustrates how queer desires were suppressed by family and society, yet she refuses to let that define her. She reclaims agency by openly reconnecting with Jean, by choosing to love Victor genuinely, and by later becoming a mother on her own terms.

Jo is also linked to the theme of Secrets and Communication Barriers. The secret of her relationship with Jean was discovered, leading to a breakdown; later, her willingness to speak directly about it breaks down the barrier between her and Jean. In contrast, Tobias’s secret keeping is destructive.

Symbolically, Jo is associated with light and the sun. In Jean’s memory, Jo is “sunshine bright: golden hair, rosy cheeks, forget-me-not eyes.” This contrasts with Muirin, who is “dark and unfathomable.” Jo represents Jean’s past, rooted in human connection and community, while Muirin represents the wild, magical unknown. The fact that Jo is the one who helps Jean integrate these two worlds—by giving her permission to let go of guilt and trust her own heart—makes her a bridge between the ordinary and the extraordinary.

Jo also touches the theme of Isolation vs. Community. Jean isolates herself after losing Jo; Jo’s return is the first step toward Jean re-engaging with community. Jo’s friendship offers a model of support that Jean later extends to Muirin.

Questions and Answers

1. Why did Jo marry Victor if she loved Jean? Jo did not choose Victor freely. Her mother, suspecting the relationship with Jean, pressured her into marriage. Jo says, “Ma said she’d be damned if we were friends anymore… if I didn’t marry Victor, she’d pick someone else for me.” Jo agreed because she saw no other option and feared worse consequences.

2. Does Jo ever regret her marriage? No. Jo tells Jean that while the start was hard, Victor was patient and kind, and she now genuinely loves him. She does not regret saying yes, though she acknowledges she had no real choice at the time.

3. Why does Jo come back to see Jean? Jo returns because she missed Jean and wanted to reconnect. She had been worried about how Jean was doing, especially knowing how the town had gossiped. She also wanted to clear the air about her marriage and apologize for any hurt.

4. What does Jo think of Jean’s relationship with Muirin? Jo is supportive. When Jean hints that things are complicated, Jo says, “You’ll tell me about her, won’t you? I hope you will.” She invites Jean to visit and share her story, showing she values Jean’s new love and wants to be part of her life.

5. How does Jo help Jean rescue Muirin? Indirectly, but crucially. Jo’s words—that Jean is “brave” and “stupid reckless if you thought it’d save somebody you cared about any pain”—give Jean the courage to continue the risky plan. Jo also teaches Jean that not everything is her fault, which frees Jean to act without paralyzing guilt.