Characters in The God of the Woods

Barbara Van Laar

The rebellious thirteen-year-old daughter of the Van Laar family, who vanishes from her bunk at her parents' Camp Emerson in August 1975.

Judyta Luptack

A twenty-six-year-old New York State investigator, the only woman on the team assigned to Barbara's disappearance.

Alice Van Laar

Alice Ward Van Laar, mother of Bear and Barbara, still undone by the loss of her son fourteen years earlier.

Tracy Jewell

Barbara's shy, observant bunkmate at Camp Emerson, sent to camp against her wishes while her parents' marriage breaks up.

Louise Donnadieu

A twenty-three-year-old counselor at Camp Emerson and a working-class local, responsible for the bunk Barbara disappears from.

Bear Van Laar

Barbara's older brother, who vanished from the same Adirondack camp fourteen years before her and was never found.

Peter Van Laar III

Head of the Van Laar family, husband of Alice and father of Bear and Barbara.

T.J. Hewitt

Tessie Jo Hewitt, the director of Camp Emerson and daughter of its former groundskeeper Vic Hewitt.

John Paul McLellan

Godson of the Van Laar family and Louise Donnadieu's fiance, positioned between the estate's owners and the workers who serve it.

Judyta "Judy" Luptack

TJ Hewitt

Peter Van Laar