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Despite suffering most of her life from a chronic illness, Josie remains a surprisingly ebullient and ambitious child. At fourteen years old she has developed a strong sense of self, aided in her emotional growth perhaps by the depth of her illness. Josie is surrounded by people who care for and about her, as her caretakers are her family and friends. Josie is at times grateful for and at times resentful of the attention paid to her by the Mother, Melania Housekeeper, Klara, and Rick, as they are all on the lookout for signs of her health deteriorating. The closer a lead she is kept on by her caretakers, the more she closes herself off and hides her illness. 

Like Klara, Josie is naturally inquisitive and curious. She is invested in her future while at the same time seems to have come to terms with the possibility of her early death from the illness. She only really shows fear once, when she wakes up in the middle of the night calling for her mother and saying she doesn’t want to die. Josie is the only human in the story who truly seems to enjoy her life, perhaps because of her proximity to death—her mother is too tied up in her grief and anxiety, her father guards himself against the world, Rick worries about his mother and his future, and Miss Helen worries about Rick. Josie, however, thinks only of the present moment and the future; it is this faith in her future that keeps her going.

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