Counting Miracles

Kaitlyn Cooper is another of the novel’s main characters. In the narrative present, Kaitlyn is in her forties and living in Asheboro, North Carolina with her two children, Casey and Mitch. Kaitlyn grew up in Kentucky and attended the University of Kentucky where she met her ex-husband George. Their marriage inspired her move to Asheboro, where she settled down and began her family. Kaitlyn also works as a doctor and volunteers with her community in her spare time. She and George were married for 13 years before George cheated on her and they divorced four years prior to the narrative present.

Kaitlyn is a responsible, focused character who puts others’ needs before her own. As a single mother and a doctor, she has little free time and develops a habit of self-isolating in order to focus on her work and family. Therefore, she finds herself questioning who she is and what she wants when she meets and starts seeing Tanner. She’s immediately taken by Tanner’s attractive appearance, and particularly notes “a readiness in the way he st[ands], an almost coiled intensity” (27). Tanner’s self-assuredness and confidence are attractive to Kaitlyn because she’s accustomed to being the steady, reliable adult. Being with Tanner therefore changes how Kaitlyn sees herself. Tanner engages her as if she is an independent woman with her own story to tell. He invests in her life, spends time with her children, and even shows an interest in her volunteering pastime. These aspects of their relationship remind Kaitlyn that she’s her own person and that she’s been limiting herself to her roles as a mother and a doctor.

Although Kaitlyn rediscovers herself outside her domestic and vocational spheres, she is also a good doctor and mother. Her children love and respect her despite their occasional frustrations with one another. Her patients, particularly Jasper, also admire and rely upon her. Kaitlyn is therefore a self-possessed individual who learns how to reclaim her needs and wants over the course of the novel. She ends up embracing a relationship with Tanner in spite of her complex relationship past—because she realizes that she’s been denying herself intimacy and connection since her divorce.

Jasper Johnson is the third primary character of the novel. Until Chapters 11 and 12, the narrator does not reveal Jasper’s last name. This narrative withholding is inspired by the mystery surrounding Tanner’s paternity and thus his relation to Jasper. He’s therefore referred to as simply Jasper or Mr. Jasper throughout the majority of the novel and this guide.

In the narrative present, Jasper lives alone in his cabin on the edge of the Uwharrie National Forest. He and his dog Arlo have been alone here together ever since Jasper’s wife Audrey and children David Johnson, and Deborah, Mary, and Paul Johnson died. Jasper lost his family in the 1980s when his son Paul accidentally let a backyard bonfire get out of control. The fire spread and burned down Jasper’s family home, killing Audrey, David, Deborah, and Mary. Paul was imprisoned for arson and manslaughter, and died by suicide on his first night of incarceration. Jasper was the only one to survive the tragedy, although he sustained significant physical injuries and psychological wounds from it.

Jasper is a kind-hearted character who keeps to himself because of his traumatic past. Jasper has significant burn scars on his face and body, which have rendered him a social pariah. Furthermore, losing his family has caused him to give up on life. He was a firm believer in the Christian God throughout his childhood and adulthood, but gave up his faith after his family died. He therefore lives a solitary life and often struggles to find purpose and meaning.

Despite Jasper’s fraught past, he is a dynamic character who learns to embrace love and intimacy over the course of the novel. Experiences which contribute to his change include teaching Mitch to whittle, connecting with Kaitlyn, trailing the white deer, and meeting his estranged grandson Tanner. In the epilogue, Jasper not only returns to his faith but celebrates the family he’s found in recent weeks.

Casey Cooper is a secondary character. She is Kaitlyn’s daughter and eldest child and is in her teens in the narrative present. In recent years, Casey’s parents’ divorce has complicated her sense of home, self, and belonging. In particular, she feels frustrated that her mom “seem[s] to act like [she’s] this awful person” despite the fact that she “ace[s] every test,” “babysit[s] Mitch whenever [Kaitlyn] need[s] it,” and is “always in by [her] curfew” (45). She also doesn’t “drink or do drugs” and devotes most of her time to her schoolwork or spending time with her family (45). Casey is therefore a responsible and self-possessed young woman. Kaitlyn at times feels frustrated with her moods, but Casey simply knows how to speak her mind and to own her experience. She shows signs of maturation over the course of the novel, particularly when she realizes her mom is interested in Tanner and when Jasper needs her family’s help.

Mitch Cooper is another secondary character. He is Kaitlyn’s son and youngest child. Because he doesn’t remember his dad as well as Casey, Mitch is more attached to Kaitlyn and his sister. He loves being at home with his family and has a positive, energetic nature. Tanner particularly notices how great Mitch is and believes “his enthusiasm [is] contagious” (138). Tanner is especially taken with Mitch because he knows that he was “far less charming at Mitch’s age” and because Mitch is “pretty much a happy, open book” (138). Indeed, Tanner and Mitch’s connection is significant for both characters. In Mitch, Tanner receives a de facto son. He learns to embrace life by engaging in the present with Mitch, too. In Tanner, Mitch finds a pseudo father figure and friend.

David Johnson is a minor character. He is Tanner’s biological father and Jasper’s eldest son. In the narrative present, David is not alive. Therefore, his character only appears on the page in the form of Jasper’s memories and flashbacks, and later, through the stories Jasper tells Tanner about him. David was the most responsible and collected of Jasper’s children. He was passionate, driven, and focused and Jasper often worried about his son’s desperate determination to find his purpose in life. When he was young, David fell in love with Monica Hughes. She broke his heart when she moved overseas with her family and stopped contacting him. What David didn’t know was that Monica was pregnant with his child, Tanner, and that she soon died in childbirth. Some years later, David passed away in the fire that also killed his mother and siblings.

Tanner discovers the truth about David when he finally realizes that Jasper is his paternal grandfather. Connecting with Jasper in turn offers Tanner access to his biological father’s identity and past and helps him connect with his familial roots.