43 pages • 1-hour read
A Love Letter to Whiskey
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Character Analysis
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, rape, and emotional abuse.
Brecks “B” Kennedy
B is the protagonist, narrator, and in-text author of A Love Letter to Whiskey. B describes her childhood as fairly conventional and happy. For years, she believed that her parents were high-school friends who dated for a short time and then separated amicably. However, after her mother revealed that B was conceived by rape, B’s love for her parents gave way to more complex feelings. B is especially sensitive about her name, as it is a reminder of how she was conceived: “Brecks” is the Irish word for “freckled,” which her mother chose because she counted B’s father’s freckles during her rape. B thinks of her name as “monstrous,” and it comes to encapsulate her doubts about her own capacity for and entitlement to love. That B “affiliate[s] love with fear” because of what her father did to her mother contributes to issues in her own romantic relationships (188), which she often sabotages. Learning to Accept Love is thus at the heart of B’s character arc.
B is initially uncertain about what she wants to do with her future and what to major in when she gets to college, but she knows that she wants to leave her hometown due to her complicated relationship with her parents. B gains confidence about what she wants as time goes on, especially when it comes to her career. She is certain that she can get a prestigious job in publishing when she accepts an internship in Pittsburgh, and she quickly proves that she is a hard worker who is fit for the job. However, she also uses her work to distract her from her more personal problems, like her turbulent relationship with Jamie, and often blames their relationship struggles on The Influence of Timing rather than her own choices. Nevertheless, she ultimately proves to be a dynamic character, as she begins to take accountability for her actions and recognize that she is deserving of love and can start a meaningful relationship with Jamie.
About a year after learning about her parents’ history, B takes up writing as a way of addressing her feelings. She later channels this into writing a love letter, the book itself, that tells Jamie about all her feelings and mistakes. She also surfs to clear her mind, though the calm waters of South Florida do not challenge her much, which factors into her decision to go to college in California.
Jamie “Whiskey” Shaw
Jamie grows up in a more privileged home than B, with his parents, Rhonda and Wes, owning a successful accounting firm in town. Though his parents have provided for him, Jamie often makes a point of putting in the work to earn things on his own. This speaks to Jamie’s drive and resolve, as do his firm plans for what he wants to do with his life: graduate from college in California, travel while he is young, become an accountant, and eventually help his father run his firm, all while finding a wife and having his own traditional nuclear family. In this way, he contrasts with B, who is uncertain of her future.
However, Jamie’s firm convictions lead to trouble whenever his goals are threatened, as he does not know how to handle a future different from the one he envisioned. He makes impulsive and often destructive decisions at such times, as when Jenna breaks up with him or when he learns that his parents’ firm is failing. Jamie also has a short temper, often lashing out when he feels like he is losing control, and expresses jealousy and possessiveness in his relationship with B, much as B herself does with him. Unlike B, however, Jamie faces these issues, often confronting B about their relationship when she refuses to do so. More than anything, Jamie wants to show B that he is willing to put effort into their relationship, and he proves his loyalty when he waits for B without any assurance that they have a future together.
Most descriptions of Jamie center around how B feels about him and often relate to his relationships with other women. B notices that Jamie has a type: curvy, blonde women like their friend Jenna. This unnerves B, who is a more athletically built, biracial woman. Jamie’s popularity with these women exacerbates her low self-esteem, making it more difficult for her to accept Jamie’s love for her.
Though B uses comparisons to whiskey to describe Jamie as maturing over the years, Jamie is largely a static character. Like B, he often tries to move on from their relationship, but he keeps returning to destructive patterns of behavior. Even so, Jamie does change slightly in his approach to his relationship with B. By the end of the novel, he realizes that he needs to let B come to terms with their relationship on her own time, which ultimately allows them to find their happy ending.
Jenna Kamp
Jenna is B’s childhood best friend and always backs B up in her times of need. Jenna is known for her looks, especially in high school, when her role as a cheerleader gets the attention of many boys. B is used to this, describing her best friend as “cripplingly gorgeous,” and is only hurt once Jamie starts to fall for Jenna. Even then, B does not resent Jenna, describing her as a “spitfire” who jumps to protect her the moment she is hurt, as well as “the kind of friend you latch[] onto and never let go of. She [i]s fiercely loyal, hilarious, and driven […] [and] the only person in [B’s] life who t[akes] [her] for who [she] [i]s” (24). For B, who struggles with self-worth, this unconditional acceptance is particularly valuable, and Jenna’s support of B during her trials with her parents solidifies their friendship and helps B through this time in her life.
Jenna continues to support B as they grow older, always showing up when B needs it most. However, Jenna is also the one to give B the “tough love” she needs, and the two have many serious conversations where Jenna acts as the voice of reason and explains B’s problems from an outside perspective. This helps B see herself more clearly, making Jenna vital to B’s character development and the novel’s happy resolution.
B’s Parents
Though B’s parents both go unnamed in the novel, they play an important role in her upbringing and influence the choices she makes in her life. Be reveals little about her parents’ personalities beyond the fact that her mother is fiercely loving and that her father got defensive when he learned that B knew the truth of her conception. What B discovered about her parents’ relationship changed her views on love, causing her to associate love with fear and pain. Her parents’ concealment of this information also affects her deeply, as she questions why her mother kept her rapist in her life and gave her daughter a name that reminded her of her rape. Though B initially tries to maintain some relationship with her father after she has discovered the truth, she cuts him off after she graduates from high school, refusing to answer his few calls. This helps B reconcile with her mother. Nevertheless, B’s father’s death affects her much more than she expected given the complexity of her relationship. She feels bad for grieving him after what he did to her mother, but she cannot forget the father she grew up loving. In her mother, however, B sees an example of healing, as B’s mother gets therapy and eventually begins a new, healthy, and adventurous relationship. B is proud of her mother for moving on from her past, and the example she provides ultimately helps B grow as well.
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