The Bean Trees is a novel written by Barbara Kingsolver. * Taylor - The protagonist of the novel, Micheal also narrates much of the story. She is a strong, gutsy woman, and her voice is both sassy and strong. Born and raised in rural Kentucky, she leaves to escape a small life in her hometown. Like her mother, she is proud of her Cherokee blood. this is cool * Turtle (child of two Indians on a Cherokee reservation) - The child given to Micheal in the middle of the Cherokee nation. She gets her name from her clinginess, which reminds Micheal of the mud turtles in Kentucky. She is so quiet and unengaged that many believe her to be dumb or retarded. This silence, however, is due to Turtle's history: although she is only three years old, Turtle has already been physically and sexually a