Bill Character Analysis

Bill is a tall, handsome Canadian man who works with Adah at her second library job. He talks about literature with her and introduces her to the work of important Black writers such as James Baldwin. When Adah shows him the novel manuscript she has written, The Bride Price, Bill praises its quality and suggests she get it published, feeding Adah’s dreams of becoming an author. When Adah tells him she felt as fulfilled by finishing the novel as she does by giving birth, Bill affirms her feelings and calls the novel her “brainchild.” This direct parallel between the novel and Adah’s real children helps motivate Adah to finally leave Francis after he burns her novel manuscript—because he has symbolically killed one of her children and because he may be a threat to her actual children.