A wealthy, retired candy manufacturer and owner of L’Arbe de la Croix. Valerian is seventy years old and white, and he employs all of the novel’s major black characters except for Son. He is determined to enjoy his retirement; he particularly enjoys gardening and spending time in his greenhouse. Valerian sometimes fails to take things as seriously as he should, and he can be stubborn and mean. But the revelation that his wife, Margaret, abused their son, Michael, devastates Valerian. By the end of the novel, Valerian has turned from a strong-willed man of business into an invalid.
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