Sally Lockhart - Character

Character

Sally Lockhart is first introduced in The Ruby in the Smoke, the first of the four novels in the Sally Lockhart Quartet. The book begins in London in 1872, where Pullman states Lockhart is "sixteen or so". Physically, Lockhart is described as being "uncommonly pretty"; she has blonde hair, dark brown eyes and is "slender and pale". In the beginning, Sally is placed under the care of her father's second cousin, a widow named Caroline Rees who insists upon being called "Aunt Caroline". The two reside at Peveril Square, Islington, until Sally moves out during the beginning of The Ruby in the Smoke.

She befriends Jim Taylor, an office boy at her father's old shipping firm; Frederick Garland, a brilliant photographer; and his sister Rosa, a caring actress. Sally's high intelligence opens a career path for her as a financial consultant, an extremely difficult job for a woman to obtain considering women at this point still were refused the right to vote.

Sally Lockhart realises she loves Frederick Garland almost too late in The Shadow in the North; they consummate their love and conceive their child hours before Frederick is killed in a fire started by associates of Axel Bellmann. Sally mourns the fact she and Fred never had a chance to marry and that their daughter, named Harriet, is illegitimate.

At the end of The Tiger in the Well, Sally realises that Jewish-Hungarian socialist and journalist, Daniel Goldberg, is the only man who would ever measure up to Fred's bravery, understanding, and love, and that Fred would have liked Daniel very much. She decides at the end of the book that she should marry Daniel. It is unknown whether Sally Goldberg, née Lockhart, converts to Judaism on her marriage to Daniel. She also appears in the book The Tiger in the Well. This book is suited for twelve year old children.

Sally appears in all four of the books, although her appearance in The Tin Princess is only brief, and the importance of her role is considerably diminished compared to previous titles.