Lin Doherty is a member of the Universal Humanitarian Church who was born at Chapman Farm. She is the daughter of Deirdre Doherty, who wrote in her journal that she had been raped by Jonathan Wace. 

Lin’s name is first mentioned in an email from Kevin Pirbright to Sir Colin Edensor. Kevin said that Lin had a stammer and that Mazu Wace constantly mocked her for it. He also wrote that Deirdre was expelled from the church and left Lin behind. He said that Lin, like him, was not allowed out of the farm even to collect money on the streets because her stammer meant she did not fit in with the Church image (Ch 7).

Lin is described as around fifteen or sixteen years old with thin mousey sun-bleached hair and large anxious eyes (Ch 24).

Robin meets Lin on her fourth day at Chapman Farm in the crafting workshop making corn dollies. Robin deliberately takes a seat beside Lin and when the girl stammered as she told Robin her name she knew at once she was Deirdre Doherty’s daughter (Ch 30).

Robin next encounters Lin on the first night she visits the perimeter fence to find the fake rock she and the agency are using to exchange letters. She hears the distinctive voice of Lin asking Will Edensor to help her. Lin is clearly upset and concerned that the Church will send her to Birmingham if she does not comply with their wishes (Ch 36).

After hearing the conversation between Lin and Will, Robin is almost certain that the infant Qing is Lin’s daughter. This conclusion is reinforced when she spots Lin comforting the child in bushes near the farmhouse (Ch 41).  Robin observes that both Will and Lin appear to be trying to sustain a parental relationship with Qing in defiance of the Church’s teachings (Ch 50).