Keeping 13

Johnny is the second point-of-view character and protagonist of Keeping 13. He is 17 at the novel’s start and turns 18 at the end. He begins the novel in the hospital, recovering from surgery after a severe rugby injury. He is one of the best players in Ireland and has aspirations to play for the U20 and National teams; however, with tryouts just a handful of weeks away, he is unsure that he will make the team.

Johnny changes throughout the text thanks to his relationship with Shannon. At the start of the novel, he is entirely focused on rugby. He regrets sending Shannon out of his hospital room after hearing the news that he won’t play for several weeks, but recognizes how devastating the news was for him. His relationship with Shannon forces him to think about other aspects of his life. While being with Shannon is a key motivator for him to delay his rugby aspirations, what’s more important is the fact that their relationship opens him up to doing things he had never done before, like going to the movies and going camping with his friends. As Johnny thinks about whether to take the contract with the national team, he tells his father that he would “have to give it all up. […] Tommen, [his] friends, Shannon, Gibs” (613). This realization shows how far he has come from the Johnny at the start of the text, who spent his entire time training and working out, with little interest in anything else. Although Johnny still hopes to pursue his career in the future, he realizes that it is not the only thing in his life that matters.

Edel is Johnny’s mother. She is in her late forties and works as a fashion designer. From the very beginning of the novel, she is part of a support system for both Johnny and Shannon. She serves as the mother figure for Shannon and her siblings, an embodiment of the theme of The Power of Love to Heal and Transform. She is the one who gets Joey to talk when he shuts Shannon out, encouraging him to continue working and, ultimately, enrolling him at Tommen. When Johnny brings the three youngest Lynch children home, she feeds and comforts them; although she scolds Johnny for his actions, she also sides with Johnny when he is resistant to taking them home. While she encourages Shannon to listen to Darren and stay safe while her father is missing, she also openly allows Shannon into her home. At the end of the novel, she adopts Shannon and her siblings, feeding them, buying them clothes, and supporting their education.

Darren is Shannon’s older brother. Although acting out of good faith, he serves as an antagonist to Shannon and Johnny in the novel. Because Darren was the first to suffer abuse from their father, he left the house as soon as he turned 18, moving to Belfast, going to college, and marrying his husband, Alex. Throughout much of her life, Shannon thought that no one knew where Darren was; however, after her father leaves, she learns that her mother has actually been in contact with Darren the entire time. When he returns, he takes custody of Shannon and her siblings but does so by working directly with Marie, encouraging the Lynch children to tell the police and social services that Marie bears no responsibility for their abuse so that social services will allow them to remain in her care. This path angers Joey and Shannon, who refuse to believe that their mother’s actions constitute parenting, partially blaming her for their father’s actions.

Darren is a complex character in his moral ambiguity, and as a result, he conflicts with Shannon and Johnny’s relationship. His motivations are good: He understands that his mother was emotionally and physically abused by Teddy in a way that Shannon and the others do not. He sees Marie as a victim who was trapped in her marriage, unable to leave out of fear—both of harm and of losing her children. He initially supports his mother unquestioningly, believing that she should hold no fault for what happened and that she could rehabilitate to become a good mother to her children. In this capacity, he pushes Johnny away, encouraging Shannon to handle their family matter privately and avoid being taken advantage of by Johnny. However, throughout the novel, Darren changes as he realizes that his mother is unable to truly care for her children. He becomes overwhelmed by all the issues in their families and his inability to care for his mother, ultimately supporting the Kavanaghs’ bid for custody of his siblings.