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Mum
Gran is Tom's grandmother. She lives on acreage in Coghill that she calls Saint Marguerite Bourgeouy's, after her favorite saint. However, Gran's love for saints isn't limited to Saint Marguerite; she's a stanch Catholic and her house is filled with pictures of saints, placed strategically throughout so that a saint's specialty might help a certain person. She agrees to let Dad, Mum, Tom, and Kylie live with her when they decide to leave Mumbilli. The transition is difficult at first, as Gran is a very poor cook and insists on things being done her way at her home. Tom and Kylie secretly call her "The Grandmother" because of this. Gran takes special offense to Mum's inability to get out of bed, and Tom thinks that Gran is purposefully guilt-tripping his family when she talks about Fin. As time goes on, however, Gran becomes aware that Tom doesn't like her cooking and she dedicates herself to doing better. This coincides with Mum being able to get up for longer periods of time and Tom also becoming more at home in Coghill. Tom decides to thank Gran for her help and her sacrifices for his family by building her a new chicken coop. She had chickens years ago, but was forced to get rid of them when Pa moved the tractor repair business to their property. As Tom undertakes this project, he comes to realize that Gran started to lean so heavily on religion because her marriage was extremely unhappy. The saints offered her a way to try to do something about Pa's gambling problems and offered her a sense of community she didn't have in her real life. At the end of the novel, she gives Tom plane tickets to Nepal for his birthday, thereby showing her impressive generosity.
Gran Quotes in The Story of Tom Brennan
The The Story of Tom Brennan quotes below are all either spoken by Gran or refer to Gran. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter Nine
Quotes
"But remember your fellow man, Daniel, because life is more than just a one-man show. Everything we do in this life affects others. Did you think of that the night you got behind the wheel, your trusting passengers the loved ones of others? We think probably not."
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Chapter Eleven
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Us Brennans had a lot to ask for and not much reason to give thanks. But I was thankful. Mum was up.
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Chapter Twelve
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Once, probably not that long ago, I'm not sure I could've gone back at all. But here I was sliding the drawer open.
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"You could have told me. Do you think I couldn't see you fading away those first few weeks? Living on cereal, my goodness, you silly thing."
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Chapter Sixteen
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Before, Brendan had been someone who was just always around. Someone I never really thought about. Mum's little brother. My uncle, that was about as far as it went. But that's when life was simpler.
Now Brendan wanted me to see him. See who he really was. This was probably the way Daniel saw him and now I did too.
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Gran Quotes in The Story of Tom Brennan
The The Story of Tom Brennan quotes below are all either spoken by Gran or refer to Gran. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter Nine
Quotes
"But remember your fellow man, Daniel, because life is more than just a one-man show. Everything we do in this life affects others. Did you think of that the night you got behind the wheel, your trusting passengers the loved ones of others? We think probably not."
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Chapter Eleven
Quotes
Us Brennans had a lot to ask for and not much reason to give thanks. But I was thankful. Mum was up.
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Chapter Twelve
Quotes
Once, probably not that long ago, I'm not sure I could've gone back at all. But here I was sliding the drawer open.
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"You could have told me. Do you think I couldn't see you fading away those first few weeks? Living on cereal, my goodness, you silly thing."
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Chapter Sixteen
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Before, Brendan had been someone who was just always around. Someone I never really thought about. Mum's little brother. My uncle, that was about as far as it went. But that's when life was simpler.
Now Brendan wanted me to see him. See who he really was. This was probably the way Daniel saw him and now I did too.
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