Characters In Ascension Martin MacInnes

Helena: The Earthside Sister in Martin MacInnes’s In Ascension

Overview

Helena is the sister of Leigh, the novel’s protagonist, and the only major character who remains on Earth throughout the deep‑space mission. She appears primarily in Chapter 5, “Ascension,” which shifts perspective to her life in Jakarta, her legal battle against Cable International for access to Proscenium 1 records, and her journey to Ascension Island. Where Leigh explores the cosmic and the oceanic, Helena is grounded in the domestic and the legal – her arc is about staying present for family when others have left.

Plot Role

Helena’s role is that of the witness and enquirer left behind. While Leigh trains for and flies on the Proscenium 1 mission, Helena cares for their deteriorating mother Fenna, manages their father Geert’s final years and funeral, and later fights a corporation for the crew’s last messages. Her journey to Ascension Island with Maria, the daughter of mission director Uria, serves as the novel’s earthbound counterpoint to Leigh’s cosmic voyage. She discovers a cottage with marine microbiology books, signs that Leigh had been prepared for a return that never came, and she confronts a buried memory of Leigh’s violence.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Helena’s primary motivation is accountability: she wants to know what really happened to her sister and to force Cable International to release the mission recordings. Her legal suit is a concrete action driven by the belief that the crew’s last words belong to their families.

A second, less conscious motivation is to prove her own worth. Helena resents what she sees as Leigh’s self‑centredness and tendency to play the victim. She repeatedly notes that she, not Leigh, took responsibility for their parents – arranging the funeral, selling the house, moving Fenna into a nursing home. This resentment colours her memory of their shared childhood.

Helena’s traits include:

  • Pragmatism – She dismisses Leigh’s nostalgia and prefers direct action (lawsuits, travel) over dwelling on the past.
  • Resilience – She manages a family while living in Jakarta with her husband Jack, and she endures the harsh environment of Ascension Island without giving up.
  • Vulnerability – On the island she feels lonely, exposed, and overwhelmed by the landscape. She admits to Maria that she and Leigh never really knew each other.
  • Controlled anger – Her resentment toward Leigh is expressed in measured, analytical terms rather than outbursts.

Chronological Arc

Helena’s story unfolds mostly in Chapter 5, but we can reconstruct her timeline from the evidence:

  1. Childhood in Rotterdam – She grew up with Leigh, Fenna, and a harsh father Geert. She remembers a violent incident when Leigh lifted her by the collar at a friend’s door; she has not thought about it for thirty years.
  2. Adulthood in Jakarta – She works as a paralegal or similar role (implied by her lawsuit), is married to Jack, and has a family.
  3. During Leigh’s training and mission – She calls Leigh to urge her to visit their declining mother, but Leigh prioritises her career (Chapter 2 outline). Helena feels abandoned to handle the burden alone.
  4. After the mission is lost – She begins a legal battle against Cable International for the records of Proscenium 1.
  5. Present timeline (Chapter 5) – She flies to Ascension Island with Maria after being contacted by her. They explore the island, find the abandoned cottage, and witness turtles laying eggs. Helena recalls her childhood memory of Leigh. She begins to understand the island as a place of wonder and absurdity, mirroring the improbability of any human existence.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  • Suing Cable International – This decision consumes years of her life but yields limited results. It does, however, put her in contact with Maria, who shares her need for answers.
  • Travelling to Ascension Island – She leaves her family for two weeks. The trip forces her to confront the reality of the place where her sister’s capsule was meant to return. It also leads to the discovery of the cottage, which offers a tangible link to Leigh’s preparations.
  • Refusing to let go of the message trove – She insists that the crew’s last communications must exist, even as Maria warns her not to expect too much. This stubbornness keeps hope alive but also prolongs her grief.
  • Engaging with her childhood memory – She admits on the island that she had buried the memory of Leigh’s violence. Facing it allows her to see her sister more fully – not as a victim, but as someone capable of both cruelty and tenderness.

Relationships

Leigh

Helena’s relationship with Leigh is the emotional core of her character. She loves Leigh but also resents her. She describes Leigh as “self‑centred” and “nostalgic,” someone who “pushed away anyone who attempted to get close.” Yet she also remembers Leigh’s goofy, joyful expression, and she longs to hear her sister’s final words. The tension between her love and her frustration is unresolved; the novel ends before they can fully reconcile.

Fenna

Helena is the one who “acknowledged the reality of their mother’s decline” and made the arrangements for her care. She resents that Leigh assumed she was more burdened by the illness. Helena’s attitude toward Fenna is dutiful but not warm; she sees it as a responsibility she had to accept.

Geert

She cared for him in his final years and arranged his funeral. She dismisses Leigh’s hints of violence, remembering only “light slaps” common in that era. This difference in memory becomes a point of quiet conflict.

Maria

Maria is the daughter of mission director Uria. Helena and Maria form a quick bond on the journey to Ascension. They share a mission of uncovering the truth, but Helena is aware that Maria’s loss – her mother’s death from a brain tumour – parallels her own. Their relationship offers Helena a rare moment of connection and ease.

Jack

Jack is Helena’s husband, mentioned only briefly. She thinks “Jack was right, this is ridiculous” before meeting Maria, suggesting he is pragmatic and perhaps urges her to let go. He remains a background figure.

Themes and Symbol Connections

Family Trauma and Memory

Helena’s arc directly explores the theme of family trauma. Her suppressed memory of Leigh’s violence and her anger at Leigh’s self‑narrative show how family histories can be contested. The novel suggests that memory is not objective; Leigh remembers violence, Helena remembers normality. The truth may lie somewhere between.

Oceanic Versus Cosmic Exploration

While Leigh pursues deep‑sea vents and deep‑space travel, Helena stays grounded in the human world. Her visit to Ascension Island – a volcanic outpost in the Atlantic – places her at the intersection of both realms: the island is a man‑made terraformed environment surrounded by ocean, a space analogue.

Isolation and Connection

Isolation and connection are central to Helena’s story. She feels isolated by her sister’s absence and by the secrecy of Cable International. On Ascension, she experiences both the desolateness of the island and the warmth of her friendship with Maria. The novel contrasts the isolation of space with the isolation of being left behind.

Symbiosis and Transformation

The green turtles laying eggs on the beach, the terraformed mountain, and the algae in the ship all point toward themes of symbiosis and transformation. Helena’s arc mirrors this: she begins as a resentful sister and ends as a woman who can sit on a porch, drink brandy, and acknowledge the radical improbability of being alive.

Environmental Collapse and Circularity

Ascension Island is a model of terraforming – a barren rock made fertile by human effort. But the island is also transient, barely existing geologically. Helena feels the island’s exposure of human settlement’s absurdity. The novel circles back to the idea that Earth itself may be collapsing; the Proscenium mission may have been a search for a new home, but Helena stays to fight for the home she already has.

Five Questions and Direct Answers

  1. Why does Helena sue Cable International for Proscenium 1 records?
    She wants to hear the crew’s last messages, especially Leigh’s. She believes these are the last words her sister said and that they may contain something important.

  2. What childhood memory surfaces on Ascension Island?
    She remembers a moment when Leigh, then a tall girl, grabbed her by the collar and lifted her off the ground near a stair railing. Leigh seemed to lose control. Helena had not thought about it in thirty years.

  3. How does Helena feel about her sister Leigh?
    She loves her deeply but also resents what she sees as Leigh’s self‑centredness and tendency to play the victim. She feels that she, not Leigh, took responsibility for their parents.

  4. Who is Maria and why does she meet Helena?
    Maria is the daughter of Uria, the mission director. She contacts Helena because she also lost someone to the mission (her mother, who died of a brain tumour). She has access to travel records and offers to accompany Helena to Ascension Island.

  5. What does Helena discover in the cottage on Green Mountain?
    The cottage contains marine‑microbiology books, tinned food, and signs of recent habitation. She believes it was used by Leigh or by someone preparing for the crew’s return. The cottage becomes a tangible link to her sister.

Further Reading