The Paris AtlasCharting the artists, works, and places worth returning to.
Illustrated portrait of Gareth Straike

A character in The Charioteer

Gareth Straike

Lucy's second husband and Laurie's reserved stepfather, representing the conventional household rebuilt after Michael's death.

The book

Cover of The Charioteer by Mary Renault
The CharioteerMary Renault, 1953

A wounded soldier must choose between different kinds of love in a world where neither can be public.

View the book

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Gareth occupies a conventional family role as Lucy's second husband and Laurie's stepfather.

His presence emphasizes Laurie's partial distance from the household his mother rebuilt.

How the book draws them

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • AgeHe is a respectable middle-aged Englishman.
  • DressConservative wartime civilian clothes fit his role.
  • PostureFormality and reserve define his presence.
  • FamilyHe offers stability without replacing Laurie's father emotionally.
Gareth's place at the endHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

He remains married to Lucy.

If you like The Charioteer

Four books that share themes, tone, or setting with this one.

If you like Mary Renault

Explore authors with a similar voice, perspective, and influence.

  • Illustrated portrait of Martha Gellhorn

    Martha Gellhorn

    War correspondent who covered the Spanish Civil War, D-Day, and conflicts across five more decades; Hemingway's third wife, 1940–1945.

    View author
  • Illustrated portrait of Louis-Ferdinand Céline

    Louis-Ferdinand Céline

    The doctor of the Paris slums who wrote the century's blackest, funniest novel — and changed the sound of French prose.

    View author
  • Illustrated portrait of Charles Bukowski

    Charles Bukowski

    American poet and novelist of Los Angeles rooming houses, racetracks and the post office, who quit his job to write when a publisher offered him a hundred dollars a month. He came to Paris once, in September 1978, drank his way through a live television book programme and walked off the set — and French television has been replaying it ever since.

    View author
Back to The Charioteer