Bronwyn Bruntley

Bronwyn Bruntley is one of Miss Peregrine’s peculiar children, distinguished by extraordinary strength and an equally emphatic loyalty to her companions. First presented through a stage act as the Amazing Strong-Girl of Swansea, she becomes a central protector in the group’s crises: she insists on trying to revive her brother Victor, accepts Jacob as one of their own, and uses her strength to help the children escape a Hollowgast and continue toward the lighthouse.

Identity and Introduction

Before Bronwyn appears in person, Emma Bloom describes her as someone who may not be the most perceptive but has a massive heart and would go to the grave for her friends. Emma calls the two of them thick as thieves, making their closeness part of Bronwyn’s first impression. The affection is backed by a clear account of character: Bronwyn’s defining strength is not only physical but relational, expressed as steadfastness toward her companions.

Her public persona is introduced through an old performance. Onstage, she drags out a boulder about the size of a small refrigerator. A promotional card shows her barefoot, staring challengingly at the camera, and advertises her as the Amazing Strong-Girl of Swansea. The spectacle gives her strength a practiced, public form, but the book’s later emergencies reveal its more consequential use: the force that once made an audience watch becomes a means of keeping friends alive.

Family and the Discovery of Victor

Bronwyn’s connection to the boulder act reaches into her family history. When she enters the room where Jacob finds a dead boy, she identifies him as Victor. Jacob then recognizes Victor as the boy lifting the boulder in his grandfather’s pictures and understands that Victor was Bronwyn’s brother. The discovery binds the strongwoman’s public image to a private loss: the performer associated with lifting a boulder has a brother whose fate is concealed within the children’s repeating loop.

The loop complicates the ordinary measure of time around Victor’s death. Jacob realizes that no one can tell how long Victor has been dead, because a period that might amount to fifty years outside the loop can appear to be only a day while the loop repeats. Bronwyn’s identification establishes the family relationship; the time-loop condition makes the loss harder to place or measure.

Later, when Enoch attempts to revive Martin, Bronwyn steps forward with the others and insists that they have come all this way and must at least try. Her response echoes the loyalty Emma described: she does not withdraw from a difficult effort simply because its chances are uncertain. The scene concerns Martin rather than Victor, but it shows how Bronwyn’s commitment to her companions operates in practice—she joins the attempt and helps sustain the group’s resolve.

Loyalty and Acceptance of Jacob

Bronwyn’s loyalty also shapes the group’s response to Jacob. When Hugh arrives to summon the children because something serious has happened, he objects to Jacob accompanying them. Emma answers that the Bird was right and that Jacob is one of them. Bronwyn’s conduct belongs to this moment of collective recognition: the immediate emergency leaves no time for argument, and Jacob is treated as a member of the group rather than kept outside it.

The choice matters because the children’s trust is being tested under pressure. Jacob is not simply brought along as a witness; Emma’s declaration gives him a place among them, while the group moves together toward danger. Bronwyn’s broader pattern of action supports that inclusion: she repeatedly acts for the group rather than drawing a boundary between herself and the others.

That solidarity is particularly clear when Jacob decides to leave despite the possibility that his father is in danger. Bronwyn challenges Emma’s announcement that she will go with him, but Emma confirms that she is serious. Bronwyn’s brief response registers surprise at Emma’s choice; it does not overturn the friendship Emma has already described or the cooperation that follows. Their closeness is shown not as agreement in every moment, but as a bond that holds while each makes difficult decisions.

Strength in the Icehouse Escape

When a Hollowgast threatens the children inside the icehouse, Bronwyn answers Enoch’s fear with a brisk insistence that they will have to kill it. As Emma begins to count down, Bronwyn takes action before the group can carry out a coordinated plan. She charges the creature, then drives her weight against Martin’s ice trough and heaves the large structure—filled with ice, fish, and Martin’s body—onto the Hollowgast.

The maneuver creates the opening the others need. Bronwyn turns back toward her companions and orders them to move, then breaks through the rotten wall. Enoch and Emma escape first; before Jacob can object, Bronwyn grabs him by the shoulders and throws him through after them. The act is forceful but protective: she places Jacob beyond the immediate danger, even at the cost of remaining behind herself.

Once outside, Emma and Enoch help Jacob up and the three run. When they realize Bronwyn has not followed, Emma calls to her. Bronwyn is still at the building, and instead of simply fleeing she strikes its corner support with her shoulder. The structure collapses, after which she runs back to the others. They cheer, hug her in the rain, and laugh together; their relief then gives way to the realization that the encounter has exposed a further danger, as the Hollowgast knew so much about Jacob and the children.

The escape establishes Bronwyn as more than the group’s strongest member. She reads an urgent physical situation and turns whatever is at hand—the heavy trough, a weak wall, the building’s support—into a route to survival. Her decision to return for the others and bring down the structure makes strength a form of collective protection rather than a solo display.

The Lighthouse and Narrative Role

Bronwyn’s practical resourcefulness remains central during the attempt to reach the lighthouse. After emerging from the water with a rectangular metal cargo-hold door, about six feet by four and fitted with a round riveted opening, she explains that she intends to go to the lighthouse. Jacob recognizes the object as a shield, and Emma praises Bronwyn’s ingenuity. The episode recalls the boulder act, but transforms its meaning: she is no longer performing strength for an audience; she is adapting heavy material to the group’s immediate needs.

Bronwyn then gives clear instructions for the journey: Millard can ride on her back, while the others follow. Emma helps Millard onto Bronwyn, who takes responsibility for carrying him as the group proceeds. Her strength therefore supports not only a dramatic escape but also the movement of companions who cannot travel in the same way.

Across these scenes, Bronwyn’s characterization joins the spectacular and the dependable. The boulder and the cargo-door shield make her power visible, while her insistence on trying, her acceptance of shared danger, and her repeated return to protect the others give that power its purpose. She is introduced as a strongwoman and becomes, through action, one of the children’s most reliable defenders.