Maxwell and Rachel Sinclair

Maxwell and Rachel Sinclair are the parents of Martin, Richard and Victoria Sinclair.

Not very much has been revealed about the parents of the Sinclair siblings. Victoria mentions "Twice-Shadowed Saint" that "mom was a nurse" which gives us some insight into her occupation. Later on, in the short story "Portrait" a photograph of the pair appears in Martin's entry hall, having been blown up and hung in a golden frame. According to the portrait, Rachel Sinclair was a thin woman with a narrow but pleasant face and long dark hair. It was from her that Martin and Richard inherited their gray eyes, and she seemed to be the calmer of the two in relation to her husband. She also seems to be the source of Richard's anachronistic formality, wearing a formal cocktail dress and elegant jewelry. Martin confirms that it was his mother who brought any kind of wealth to the Sinclair name, although he (Martin) is responsible for the bulk of the monetary earnings of his generation.

Maxwell Sinclair, on the other hand, is described as being an outdoorsman. The portrait shows him as a tall man, possibly even taller than Martin, with broad shoulders and a wide chest. In contrast to his wife (and later his children), he was tanned and rugged in appearance, although he apparently cleaned up after meeting his wife. The portrait depicts him with a shock of blond hair which he attempted to keep combed and he wore glasses that looked as if they were too small for his nose. He also had a scar on one corner of his mouth, which curved down the lips on the left side of his mouth. Unlike Martin or Richard, who keep themselves painstakingly clean-shaven, Maxwell had a neatly trimmed beard which rose to meet his lower lip.

As far as personality, the only insights we have are those Martin provides in another short story - "Heritage". He states that his parents were opposites and that while his mother was more at home, Maxwell always wanted to go out or build things. His mother was responsible for teaching them how to sew, cook, bake, clean and tend to the house - all things she did happily. Maxwell, on the other hand, always took them camping or fishing, and built the stroller that Richard and Victoria used as toddlers.

Sometime in the winter of 1993-94, while Maxwell was driving the entire family to go on a camping trip, their car struck a patch of black ice and skidded into oncoming traffic. Martin threw himself over his two siblings, which ended up saviing their lives and sending him to the hospital. Maxwell and Rachel Sinclair, unfortunately, were killed instantly by the crash. Their home, which had been paid off, ended up falling to Richard when he grew old enough to care for it, and Victoria came to stay with him.