Magnolia Parks

BJ Ballentine is the second protagonist and point-of-view narrator in the novel. He was born into a wealthy family and earns money as a model and an Instagram influencer. Magnolia describes him as “the most beautiful boy in all of London” (1). This represents Magnolia’s bias, but BJ is attractive to many, many women; he has what Magnolia calls a “magic smile” (298) that makes him able to get his way. He is also well-built; he was a rugby player in secondary school. He has four brothers and sisters. His first crush was Mary Poppins; his second was Magnolia. His nickname for her is Parks. He knew Magnolia growing up because she was friends with his brother Henry, but around age 15, BJ grew attracted to her and asked her out. Their feelings for each other were intense, and they were the most important person in each other’s lives, which accounts for their current dislike of being apart. They are both sentimental about places that hold meaning for them, like the Mandarin Oriental, where BJ once carefully orchestrated their first time having sex.

BJ’s character flaw is his lack of impulse control. He deals with intense feelings by abusing alcohol and drugs and having casual sex. He gets aggressive whenever he is angry, and he often needs his brother or his best friend, Jonah, to restrain him from getting into fights. Magnolia describes him as a boy, not a man; despite his charm, he is reckless, irresponsible, and just as self-absorbed as Magnolia is. He reacts in the moment based on his own selfish desires, and this leads him to cheat on Magnolia with Paili. He feels terrible about it afterwards, but in the moment, he cannot think with logic, foresight, or restraint. This flaw makes him more of an anti-hero as the story unfolds.

Tom serves as BJ’s foil and chief competitor for Magnolia’s affections. He is 31 years old, and multiple characters compare him to Thor, suggesting a resemblance to the actor who played that role in the Marvel movies. Magnolia describes him as “Tatler’s most eligible bachelor since [Prince] Harry was nabbed from the list” (96). Tom is described as a “[b]illionaire, philanthropist, pilot, [and] dreamboat” (118). Magnolia thinks that Tom, unlike BJ, is “a grown-up man” (324).

Tom’s family is famous and wealthy, but Tom is also a professional pilot. He is still grieving the death of his brother, Sam, and he feels guilty about his attraction to his brother’s widow, Clara. Clara and Sam have experienced an intense love affair, and this dynamic helps Tom to understand Magnolia’s attachment to BJ. Because Tom has a strong moral compass, he believes that it is wrong for him to begin an affair with his brother’s widow, and he also has a protective streak that becomes apparent in his interactions with both Clara and Magnolia. Tom is able to consider the welfare of others, as when he takes a shaken Magnolia to BJ after she fights with her father; despite his own desires, Tom understands that what Magnolia wants in that moment is to be with BJ. Although he understands her emotional quirks, Tom falls in love with Magnolia and tells her that he would like to compete with BJ for her affections. When Magnolia says that she is getting back together with BJ, Tom isn’t optimistic about the long-term success of that effort, and this observation shows his practical nature and his perceptiveness about other people.

Christian is a secondary character whose role is to serve as a foil to BJ, and he also represents possible competition for Magnolia’s affections. He and his brother, Jonah, run a series of businesses that are not all strictly legal. Christian is part of the same friend group as BJ and Magnolia—what the friends refer to as the Full Box Set—and Magnolia had a crush on him before she got interested in BJ. When Christian showed his interest in Magnolia after she and BJ broke up, they dated briefly. He ended things because he could see Magnolia was still invested in BJ, and Christian now considers BJ to be his friend, but he has continued to be troubled by his own lingering feelings for Magnolia. Christian starts an affair with Daisy Haites to try to distract himself form this, but his efforts prove unsuccessful when Daisy becomes jealous of his attachment to Magnolia. Christian makes Magnolia realize the unfairness of toying with other people’s emotions and trying to use other boys as a shield and salve for her difficulties with BJ. Christian’s love triangle is an echo of other love triangles in the book, contributing to the ongoing themes of tangled attachments and fruitless love.