Sarah Yelnats (nee Miller) is a minor character in the novel, Holes. She is Stanley Yelnats' great-great-grandmother and the woman Elya marries after coming to America. Unlike her husband, Sarah does not appear in the 2002 film and is only mentioned.
Role in the novel[]
Sarah Miller was a young woman who was skilled at many things, such as plowing, milking a goat, and more importantly think for herself. When a Latvian boy, Elya moved to America, Sarah met him. She was vastly different she was from Myra Menke (his previous love interest). Eventually, Sarah fell in love with Elya, talking for hours into the night. After marrying, Elya revealed to Sarah about his misfortunes and how breaking his promise to a wise woman, Madame Zeroni had caused her to curse his family for misfortunes. Despite learning this, Sarah refused to leave him.
Sometime before the 1900s, Sarah had given birth to hers and Elya's son, Stanley I, beginning the tradition of giving all sons in the Yelnats family the name "Stanley" due to it being their last name spelled backwords. She was also the one to change some of the lyrics to "If Only, If Only" in order for it to sound more like a lullaby.
The curse was broken when her great-great-grandson, also named Stanley, carried a malnourished Hector Zeroni up a mountain and to where Sam the Onion Man's farm used to be. As Hector drank, Stanley began singing the "If Only, If Only" song. It allowed Stanley III to finding out the cure for removing foot odor from shoes and Stanley IV to return home.
