Chanhassen (Sugar) Hiddle

Sugar leaves Bybanks, Kentucky, after sinking into depression following the stillbirth of her baby boy, seeking an undefined sense of self and renewal in Lewiston, Idaho. Creech frames her departure as more than grief: Sugar longs for a version of herself beyond the roles of wife and mother. She loves her family while feeling compelled to go, creating a deeply human tension between belonging and personal survival.

"I am not afraid of dying. I am afraid of not living." This line crystallizes Sugar's restless longing and explains why she boards a bus alone instead of remaining in Bybanks. It frames her departure as a courageous, if tragic, act of self-determination, echoing throughout Sal's journey as both an inspiration and a source of grief.

Sugar dies when the bus she is riding goes off a cliff on a mountain road before she can reach her destination. She is buried in Lewiston, Idaho, beneath a tree she had already written about in a letter to Sal. Her death is revealed gradually through the novel and is reframed when Sal learns that Margaret Cadaver was on the same bus and witnessed Sugar's final moments as the sole survivor of that section of the crash.

Sugar is Sal's mother and the emotional gravitational center of her entire life. She named Sal after a beloved tulip tree, binding her daughter to nature from birth. Her sudden departure — and Sal's inability to say goodbye — leaves Sal with profound guilt and unresolved grief. Sal's entire cross-country journey is a pilgrimage to Sugar's grave, driven by a desperate hope that her mother might still be alive.

Margaret Cadaver was on Sugar's bus when it crashed and was the sole survivor of that portion of the accident, meaning she witnessed Sugar's death firsthand. This shared tragedy is what draws John Hiddle toward Margaret, as he seeks solace in someone who was present at the end. Sal initially views Margaret with deep suspicion, but learning the truth transforms Margaret from a suspected adversary into a fellow mourner carrying an enormous burden.

Sugar kisses trees as an expression of her animistic reverence for the natural world, treating living things with the same affection one might show a person. Sal recalls the habit with a mixture of embarrassment and admiration, and Creech uses it to suggest that Sugar communicates deep emotional truths through nature that she sometimes cannot express in ordinary speech. The practice reflects her Seneca heritage and her sense of spiritual connection to the land.

The stillbirth of Sugar's baby boy serves as the novel's originating trauma, triggering the depression that ultimately drives her to leave Bybanks. Its ripple effects shape every major character: Sugar is psychologically fractured, John is left helpless and heartbroken, and Sal carries irrational guilt, believing she somehow "used up" her mother's luck by being born in a car. The loss functions as the structural wound from which all of the novel's grief flows.

Gram retells stories about Sugar because she was one of her most devoted champions, cherishing Sugar as a daughter-in-law, and the road trip reflects love for Sugar's memory. By sharing warm, specific recollections — Sugar's "huzza huzza," her tree-kissing, her spirit — Gram helps Sal piece together who her mother truly was beyond Sal's own incomplete childhood memories, restoring depth to a woman Sal had begun to mythologize.