(Article covers information from the Amazon Prime Series)
Josephine Reacher is the mother of Joe and Jack and wife of Stan.
Biography[]
In Welcome to Margrave, Reacher has a memory from 1998 when he was 12 where they are unpacking at their new home at the Army base on Okinawa. Josephine is telling Reacher that trouble always seems to follow him before chastising him for packing some fireworks that caught fire during the unloading process saying that they could have burned the moving truck down. After the fire is extinguished, she sends the two boys out to meet the base kids and make some new friends.
In Spoonful, Reacher remembers the Military Police coming to their home to question Joe about his involvement in the injury sustained by one of the base kids. Evidently, his face had been "bashed in" by a "Mr. Predicto" fortune telling toy. Josephine asks Joe if he did this and he holds up the toy and says "All signs indicate yes".
In In a Tree, Reacher is thinking about doing the right thing as he was taught and he has a memory of one of his Dad's Marine Corps buddy telling him that the parents of the boy that had his face smashed was the son of a Brigadier General that will ruin Stan Reacher's career. Josephine is sticking up for her sons, and argues that surely there must be some way to fix it. After the Marine Captain leaves, Josephine calls the boys over for a lecture and then consoles Joe who realizes that his actions have damaged his Dad's career.
In No Apologies, Reacher is in the Margrave Barber shop and his childhood memories resume as he remembers being forced to get a haircut and put on his best clothes before his family goes to apologize to the family if the bully. Josephine is very strict with the boys as they attempt an argument and she tells that that their family is not a democracy and they are going to do what they are told. Josephine and Stan make Joe apologize, and then Josephine says "Your turn Reacher" when Reacher hesitates, she tells him to apologize but Reacher says no. Finally, Reacher steps up to the bully and his parents and says that he is sorry that the left side of his face doesn't look like his right.
In Reacher Said Nothing, a rolling suitcase at the airport triggers Reachers memories of when his family was forced to move from Okinawa to Germany because of what he and Joe had done. Josephine is upbeat as she says that Germany will be a new adventure, but the boys don't share her opinion. She Lets the boys know that she understands what they are going through, acknowledging that it's confusing when they see good people getting punished and bad people getting what they want. She then tells the boys something that she hopes they will someday understand. First she tells Joe that he doesn't have to solve all the world's problems, and then to Reacher, with the strength of 3 boys, what is he going to do with that strength? He's going to do the right thing.
In Pie, after the destruction of the counterfeiting operation, Reacher is looking at the WWII medal that his mother gave him and he fades back to that day in Paris, with his brother Joe. Both adults now, Reacher is a Captain in the Army and they are visiting their mother who is dying of cancer. She tells them how happy she is to see them and then asks each boy to repeat what she told them many years before. Joe, that he doesn't have to solve all the worlds problems, and Reacher, that he will do the right thing. Josephine refuses Joe's offer to take her to specialists in the U.S. as she has accepted that she is dying. She admits to the boys that she and her husband new the truth all those years before when Joe was covering up for Reacher who had beat up on the bully while they were protecting a special boy from torment. She and Stan never once saw any need to prevent either boy from following their natures, and that their natures were pure like their hearts. Josephine then presents Reacher with her father's French war medal, La Medaille de la Résistance - The Resistance Medal, which was awarded "For bravery in the face of danger". She finishes by telling Reacher that it takes bravery to do what's right.
Appearances[]
Behind the scenes[]
- Josephine is portrayed by Leslie Fray.
Book Comparisons[]
- The character of Josephine Reacher does not appear in the novel Killing Floor
- The character of Josephine Reacher appears in 3 novels of the Jack Reacher novel series:
- "Second Son"
- "The Enemy"
- "Personal"
Gallery[]
