Hugh Norreys

In the novel The Rose and the Yew Tree, Hugh Norreys is a former schoolteacher and an officer. After a motor accident he is now bedridden, and has moved with his brother and sister-in-law to St. Loo. Hugh becomes an observer, in his own words: “My role was clear. I was the looker-on”.

He lives only in his memories, his time is past, his space is limited by the walls of his house and the garden from where he could watch the castle of St. Loo. However, his subjective space is aesthetic – it includes flowers, books, music and Isabella who embodies the ideal of beauty and nobility became his friend.