The Women of Brewster Place Characters

Mattie Michael is born in Tennessee but moves to an unnamed northern city after a sexual encounter with the freewheeling Butch Fuller leaves her pregnant, at which point her strict, religious father Samuel Michael violently… read analysis of Mattie Michael

Kiswana Browne is a tall, pretty young woman from a middle-class Black family who becomes passionately invested in radical politics in college. She changes her name from “Melanie” to “Kiswana,” decides that college is bourgeois… read analysis of Kiswana Browne

Etta Mae Johnson is born in Tennessee during the Jim Crow era. Growing up, her refusal to give white people unearned respect makes her unpopular. As a teenager in the 1930s, she rejects a white… read analysis of Etta Mae Johnson

Granddaughter to Eva Turner, Ciel spends her early childhood in Eva’s house with Mattie Michael and Mattie’s son Basil because her neglectful parents abandoned her with her grandmother. When Eva dies and Eva’s children… read analysis of Lucielia “Ciel” Louise Turner

Lorraine is a tall, skinny woman who moves into Brewster Place with her girlfriend Theresa. Shy, kind Lorraine is originally from Detroit. When her father kicked her out of the house after discovering a… read analysis of Lorraine

Theresa is originally from Georgia and moves into Brewster Place with her girlfriend Lorraine. She works as a personnel director for the Board of Education. A dominant, assertive personality, Theresa wants shy, people-pleasing Lorraine… read analysis of Theresa

Ben is Brewster Place’s alcoholic janitor. As a younger man, he works as a poor sharecropper on a small farm with his wife Elvira. His and Elvira’s one child, a daughter, has a lifelong limp… read analysis of Ben

Basil is Mattie Michael’s only son, the result of a casual sexual encounter with Butch Fuller in her youth. He physically resembles Butch, but whereas Butch has a carefree attitude, Basil is sullen. Mattie… read analysis of Basil

C.C. Baker is a violent, insecure young man who lives in Brewster Place. He is always hanging around with his friends and smoking marijuana near the apartment complex. Because he only knows how to relate… read analysis of C.C. Baker

Eva Turner marries and divorces five times because, while she likes men, they don’t “agree with” her. She takes in her granddaughter Lucielia after her irresponsible son refuses to care for her. One day, encountering… read analysis of Eva Turner

Reverend Moreland T. Woods is a charismatic, hypocritical visiting preacher at the Baptist church that Mattie Michael attends. When Etta attends church with Mattie, she identifies Rev. Woods as a man who could support her… read analysis of Reverend Moreland T. Woods

Mrs. Browne is Kiswana Browne’s rich, somewhat conservative mother. She badgers Kiswana about going back to college after Kiswana drops out. Though Mrs. Browne and Kiswana have a combative relationship, Kiswana feels more tenderly… read analysis of Mrs. Browne

Abshu is Kiswana Browne’s kindly boyfriend who has a foot fetish. A large, strong man, he works as the director of the community center near Brewster Place. At one point, he organizes an all-Black… read analysis of Abshu

Eugene is Lucielia’s off-and-on boyfriend. After Lucielia gives birth to their daughter Serena, Eugene abandons Lucielia and Serena for almost a year. When he returns, he impregnates Lucielia again, but after he loses… read analysis of Eugene