Barra comes to the house to be Aminah's cook. Aminah never doubts her loyalty and Barra is only one of two characters in the book of whom this can be said. Barra eventually becomes a mother figure for Aminah and is attracted to Jinni, though she wants to have nothing to do with demons or magic. Aminah wishes for Barra to live long enough to see her great-grandchildren grow up and thus saves her life when a guard slits Barra's throat.