This page briefly describes characters and organizations as of their first appearance. It's meant to help jog first-time readers' memory without revealing future story events.
Glossary
- AGA: AGA Range Cooker, a model of combined stove/oven/furnace used in Dorley Hall's kitchen. (The acronym is for its name in Swedish.) They are inefficient and difficult to cook with, but are considered "homey". See photo.
- Disclosure: The act of telling someone about some or all aspects of Dorley Hall's forced feminisation programme. Done for the boys a couple of months into their first year; occasionally also done for outsiders who need to know.
- NPH (New Personal History): A false history with supporting identity documents that Dorley Hall constructs for each girl before she graduates.
- PMC (Private Military Contractor): A company providing soldiers for hire (basically mercenaries). Blackwater is a well-known real-world example.
Settings and organizations
- Almsworth: The town that Dorley Hall is in and that Stef and Mark grew up in.
- Cherston-on-Sea: A seaside town where Diana flees after escaping Stenordale Manor.
- Dorley Hall: A girl's dormitory at the Royal College of Saint Almsworth which Stef suspects runs a secret gender clinic of some sort.
- Egg Nation: A breakfast restaurant that Shahida proposes for a meeting with Abby and Christine.
- Peckinville Associates: The private military contractor Dorley Hall hires to provide extra muscle in the basement.
- SRS (Silver River Solutions): A private military contractor aligned with Smyth-Farrow and Grandmother.
- Stenordale Manor: Smyth-Farrow's estate, now in Grandmother's hands.
Characters
A
- Aaron: Boy in the 2019 intake. Friendly to Stefan and takes him under his wing, but needles and annoys the other boys. Sponsored by Maria.
- Abby: Melissa's former sponsor; now an assistant to Aunt Bea. Works for a local newspaper. Black and very short. Friends with Christine.
- Adam: Boy in the 2019 intake. Homophobic religious extremist. Friends with Will. Sponsored by Edy.
- Aisha: Girl in the 2018 intake; currently a second year. Violent baker.
- Amethyst: A nonbinary graduate who uses they/them pronouns. Visits for Aunt Bea's birthday.
- Amy: A friend of Shahida's, and by extension, Mark's. Straight; has wealthy parents.
- Anne: Girl in the 2108 intake; currently a second year.
- Ashley: A younger trans woman who was boarding with Teri and Linda when Beatrice met them.
- Atiena: Laser hair removal technician for the programme. Graduate.
- Autumn: Girl in the 2012 intake.
B
- Barbara: Dorley Hall's former nurse; retired before the 2019 intake.
- Beatrice (Aunt Bea): The leader of the programme. Matronly and authoritative; Christine is afraid of her.
- Bella: Rebecca's sponsor.
- Bethany:
[show spoiler from ch.32]
Girl name chosen by Aaron.
- Bex: Nickname for Rebecca.
C
- Charlie: Aisha's sponsor.
- Chiamaka: An old woman who runs a B&B in Cherston-on-Sea.
- Christine: Girl in the 2017 intake; currently a third year. Struggles with confidence and often dresses tomboyishly as a result. Friends with Abby, Paige, and Vicky. Met Stef at a party; when he started explaining his theories about Dorley Hall, she feared he was a security risk and framed him so he would be added to the 2019 intake. Sponsored by Indira.
- Constance: A former ally of Grandmother's. Her death was never reported so that Grandmother could use her identity.
- Craig: Boy in the 2017 intake. Washed out.
- Crispin: Smyth-Farrow's first name.
D
- Daisy: A Dorley girl who attended Christmas dinner and gossiped with Jenna about Steph and Aaron.
- David:
[show spoiler from ch.15]
Beatrice's deadname.
- Declan: Boy in the 2019 intake. Big, menacing domestic abuser. Tried to dig out his Goserelin implant with a spoon. Friends with Ollie and Raph. Sponsored by Monica.
- Diana:
[show spoiler from ch.36]
Girl name chosen by Declan.
- Donna: Jodie's sponsor.
- Dorothy: Grandmother's actual name.
E
- Elizabeth: A female friend of Aaron's who lived in the town near his boarding school.
- Ella: A nickname for Pamela.
- Elle (Elladine): Wealthy woman who helps fund Dorley Hall.
- Ellie: Pippa's sponsor. Pippa remembers her as having been insensitive; they aren't very close.
- Edy (Edith): Adam's sponsor.
- Esther: A sponsor in Grandmother's Dorley.
F
- Farah: Amethyst's partner. Tells Aaron that the girls are proud of him for making enough progress to be allowed to attend Christmas dinner.
- Faye: Girl in the 2018 intake; currently a second year. Struggling with a poor sponsor relationship. Sponsored by Nell.
- Fiona: Girl in the 2018 intake; currently a second year.
- Francesca: Paige's sponsor. Does not get along with her.
- Frankie (Frances): Beatrice's sponsor in Grandmother's Dorley.
G
- Gillian: Girl in the 2016 intake.
- Grandmother: Aunt Bea's harsher predecessor.
H
- Harmony: Ollie's sponsor.
I
- Indira: Christine's sponsor. Fairly senior; extremely nice in a way she can use to manipulate people. Is the only Dorley girl who's been authorized to have contact with her family. South Asian.
J
- Jan: Assistant to Elle. A long-ago graduate of Dorley who's still uncomfortable around Aunt Bea.
- Jane: Raph's sponsor.
- Jenna: A Dorley girl who attended Christmas dinner and gossiped with Daisy about Steph and Aaron. Mistook Aaron for a "hot butch chick".
- Jenny Yau: A friend of Mark's mother Laura; Mark used to babysit for her.
- Jodie: Girl in the 2017 intake; currently a third year. Goth who runs a World of Darkness stream. Sponsored by Donna.
- Julia: Girl in the 2017 intake; currently a third year. Standoffish from the girls in her year except for Yasmin. Sponsored by Lisa.
K
- Karen: An abusive nurse hired by the programme for the 2019 intake.
L
- Lambert: Elle’s surname.
- Laura: Mark's mother; deceased.
- Leigh:
[show spoiler from ch.39]
Girl name chosen by Will.
- Linda: A trans woman who, along with Teri, took in Beatrice after her escape from Dorley Hall.
- Lisa: Julia's sponsor.
- Lorna: A trans girl from outside Dorley. Dating Vicky.
M
- Margaret: A nonbinary graduate who uses she/they pronouns. Visits for Aunt Bea's birthday.
- Maria: Aaron's sponsor. Very senior; mentors and supervises less experienced sponsors. East Asian; kind of a no-nonsense attitude.
- Mark: Stef's childhood friend. Gave him the nickname "Stef". Disappeared in 2012 after a pattern of troubled behavior; assumed to have committed suicide.
- Martin: Boy in the 2019 intake. Quietly miserable; doesn't interact much with the other boys. Killed someone while driving drunk. Sponsored by Pamela.
- Melissa: A woman Stef ran into at the Tesco in 2014; he believes she is Mark after transitioning.
- Meredith: Girl in the 2016 intake.
- Mia: Girl in the 2018 intake; currently a second year. Outsized personality; seems to be intentionally leaning into extremely online trans girl stereotypes, like cat ears and striped socks. Sponsored by Nadine.
- Monica: Declan's sponsor.
N
- Nadine: Mia's longsuffering sponsor.
- Natasha: Tash's girl name; used during and immediately after graduation, but discarded by 2019.
- Nell: Faye's sponsor. Hardass to a questionable degree. Originally from the 2012 intake.
- Nic:
[show spoiler from ch.15]
An abbreviation of Maria's deadname used by Grandmother's staff.
O
- Ollie (Oliver): Boy in the 2019 intake. One of the most resistant; had already been tased sixteen times by the time Stef meets him. Hit his wife. Sponsored by Harmony.
P
- Paige: Girl in the 2017 intake; currently a third year. Tall, intimidatingly beautiful Instagram influencer. She and Christine were once lovers. Friends with Christine and Vicky. Sponsored by Francesca.
- Pamela: Martin's sponsor.
- Petra: Stef's younger sister.
- Pippa: Stef's sponsor. Appears cold, mean, and authoritative to Stef, but she is in fact new to sponsorship and very green. Freshly graduated from the 2016 intake.
Q
- Quinn: Aunt Bea’s surname.
R
- Rabia: A Dorley girl nurse brought in to replace Karen. Works at the local hospital.
- Rachel: A friend of Shahida's, and by extension, Mark's. Lesbian; more pushy about Mark's eating disorder than Shahida.
- Raph (Raphael): Boy in the 2019 intake. Said to have "rage issues". Forced his girlfriend to get an abortion and then serially cheated. Sponsored by Jane.
- Rebecca: Girl in the 2018 intake; currently a second year. Friends with Faye. Sponsored by Bella.
- Royal College of Saint Almsworth: The university in Almsworth where Dorley Hall is located and where Stef, Mark, Christine, and many other characters study or work.
- Russ (Russell): Mark's brother who's around Stef's age.
- Ruth: A sponsor in Grandmother's Dorley.
S
- Sally: Yasmin's sponsor.
- Saints: A nickname for the Royal College of Saint Almsworth.
- Sammy: Beatrice's flatmate in the mid-90s; uses ey/em pronouns.
- Shahida: A teenage friend of Mark's. Pakistani.
- Siobhan: Girl in the 2016 intake.
- Smyth-Farrow: The last name of a wealthy backer who remained loyal to Grandmother during the coup.
- Sonia: Ollie’s ex-wife who he had hit.
- Stef (Stefan): Closeted trans girl in the 2019 intake. Was childhood friends with Mark. After running into Melissa and coming to believe that she was once Mark, he began investigating her, which led Stef to suspect there's some sort of secret gender clinic at Dorley Hall. When he met Christine and drunkenly told her of his theory, she panicked and got him added to the intake. Sponsored by Pippa.
- Steph (Stephanie):
[show spoiler from ch.20]
Girl name chosen by Stef.
T
- Tabby (Tabitha): Will's sponsor.
- Tanya: Electrologist for the programme. Graduate.
- Tash: Enby from the 2012 intake.
- Teri: A trans woman who, along with Linda, took in Beatrice after her escape from Dorley Hall.
- Trevor: A Peckinville PMC soldier assigned to transport Dorley Hall's washouts. Gay twink.
V
- Valérie (Val): French girl who was in the basement with Beatrice. Presumed dead, but Aunt Bea is still looking for her.
- Veronica: Girl in the 2016 intake.
- Vicky: Girl in the 2017 intake; graduated early, skipping her third year. Progressed through the programme very quickly. Is stealing HRT for her girlfriend, Lorna. Friends with Christine and Paige.
- Vincent:
[show spoiler from ch.26]
Valérie's deadname.
W
- Will (William): Boy in the 2019 intake. Big and strong, but a pseudo-intellectual Reddit asshole. Beat up his brother for being gay. Sponsored by Tabby.
- Willow: Girl in the 2016 intake.
Y
- Yasmin: Girl in the 2017 intake; currently a third year. Standoffish from the girls in her year except for Julia. Sponsored by Sally.
Chapter numbering
Dorley fandom usually describes chapters using the numbering in the free online version of The Sisters of Dorley, but when the story is split into several books for publication, each book restarts the chapter numbers from the beginning. These tables are a quick reference to help you map back and forth.
Welcome to Dorley Hall
| Book chapter
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15
|
| Online chapter
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15
|
Secrets of Dorley Hall
| Book chapter
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11
|
| Online chapter
|
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26
|
Enemies of Dorley Hall
| Book chapter
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10
|
| Online chapter
|
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
32 |
33 |
34 |
35 |
36
|
Untitled fourth book
| Book chapter
|
1 |
2 |
3
|
| Online chapter
|
37 |
38 |
39
|
