Ellen Carroll

Ellen Jennifer Carroll (sometimes called "Ellie") is one of the five protagonists of The Secret Country.

Ellen has black hair and green eyes. During the events of The Secret Country, she is 12 years old.

At home
Ellen's siblings are Ruth and Patrick; Ted and Laura are her cousins.

The Secret Country notes that while playing the game version of their Secret, Ellen was lost in the Thorn Forest two summers before the book starts.

In the Secret Country
In the Secret Country, Princess Ellen has one sister (with whom she shares a room in High Castle): Princess Laura. They are daughters of Lord Conrad, nieces of Conrad's brother Lord Randolph, and cousins to Princes Edward and Patrick. They are related by blood to Lady Ruth, but the Secret Country no longer considers them related, as Ruth gave up her family relationships when she began studying the magic of the Green Caves.

Comparing Ellen Carroll and Princess Ellen

 * Ellen Carroll needs glasses but won't wear them, while Princess Ellen has "excellent eyesight."
 * Princess Ellen "has little use for the domestic arts." It is not mentioned whether Ellen Carroll feels the same way.
 * Princess Ellen is shy, while Ellen Carroll is described as "always [finding] her voice first" of the five children, a skill that "had often gotten them out of trouble." Designating the princess as shy was a deliberate choice on the part of the children when playing their Secret game. They found that Ellen Carroll was useful for playing other parts in the game (such as pages) and saw Princess Ellen as being of limited use in their storyline, so they gave the princess a retiring personality to justify her character's generally being in the background.