Mortimer Folchart

Living... with dangerous powers. His daughter calls him Mo, but Mortimer Folchart is known as "Silvertongue" by his enemies, for good reason: his voice can read characters out of books. Meaning that when Mo reads the name aloud, it can pull the character into the real world. It may sound like an exciting gift, but he can’t control whether it’s friends or enemies that come out.

Visiting... Elinor Loredon, his bibliophilic sister-in-law. Nine years ago, Mo read a book called Inkheart, and several characters escaped from its pages. Now he’s found another copy, and one of the characters from nine years ago, Dustfinger, warns him that the others are after him. Fearing for himself and his daughter, Meggie, Mo flees to Italy, where Elinor is less than pleased to receive him.  

Profession... skilled bookbinder and single father. In the incident where he read Dustfinger and his new enemies out of Inkheart, Mo also read his wife, Resa, into the Inkworld. Ever since, Mo's raised Meggie by himself, and he's determined to keep her safe.

Interests... books, but not to the extreme of endangering his family. Mo has always loved books, telling Meggie that "writing stories is a kind of magic." But since losing Resa, he's also gained a healthy respect for their contents.

Relationship Status... married to Resa Folchart – perhaps. The Inkworld was never a particularly safe place, and after nine years stuck there, Mo is afraid she may not even be alive.

Challenge... saving his wife while keeping his family safe. With his copy of Inkheart, Mo may finally have the chance to reunite with Resa. But Mo is still ambivalent about his powers, and with his formerly fictional enemies hoping to use his rare ability for their own benefit, Mo is finding survival hard enough.

Personality... philosophical, brave, and compassionate. A bookbinder more used to reading stories than living in them, Mortimer Folchart would be an unlikely candidate for hero in any book. But even discounting the power of his voice, Mo is a formidable foe. Though he might not have many combat skills, Mo's more than willing to learn, and he refuses to be cowed by the dangers he's fallen into: “Because fear kills everything. Your mind, your heart, your imagination.”