Kip Westaway
Kip is the narrator of the first chapter. Jean is his mother, and he is also Connie and Francis’s brother, Annabel’s eventual husband, and Charlotte and Stanzi’s father. After Kip’s father dies…
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Stanzi Westaway
Stanzi is the narrator of the second chapter. She is Kip and Annabel’s daughter, and Charlotte’s twin sister. Stanzi does not enter the story until she is in her early 20s, when Charlotte…
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Jack Husting
Jack Husting is the narrator of the third chapter, and Connie’s lover. Although Jack grew up next door to the Westaways, he never took notice of Connie throughout his childhood until he was sent…
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Charlotte Westaway
Charlotte is the narrator of the fourth chapter. She is Stanzi’s twin sister, Kip and Annabel’s daughter, and Alec and Libby’s mother. Sitting opposite Stanzi’s cynical realism, Charlotte takes great interest in…
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Francis Westaway / Uncle Frank
Francis is the narrator of the fifth chapter. He is Kip and Connie’s brother, Jean’s son, and Charlotte and Stanzi’s uncle. In the week after Francis’s father dies, Francis joins a gang…
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Annabel Crouch
Annabel is the narrator of the sixth chapter. She is Kip’s eventual wife, and Charlotte and Stanzi’s mother. Annabel and her widowed father live in poverty in Richmond, not far from the Westaways…
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Jean Westaway
Jean is the narrator of the seventh chapter, and Kip, Francis, and Connie’s mother. Jean appears to be a sour, mean, and self-centered individual for most of the story, though her own…
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Alec Westaway
Alec is the narrator of the eighth chapter. He is Charlotte’s son and Libby’s older brother. When Alec is 17, he resents Charlotte for her eccentricity, her strange rules against technology, and her…
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Connie Westaway
Connie is the narrator of the ninth and final chapters. She is Kip and Francis’s sister, Jean’s daughter, and Jack’s lover. Although Connie loves art and wants to be a professional photographer…
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Craig
Craig is Charlotte’s boyfriend when she is 24, and Alec’s biological father. Craig is bitter and childish, and Charlotte obviously thinks very little of him. Craig also has an extremely low view of…
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Libby
Libby is Charlotte’s daughter and Alec’s younger sister. Alec finds Libby irritating and mostly bickers with her, though toward the end of his narrative he realizes that she is still important to him…
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Mac
Mac is one of the gang of bullies who picks on Kip and incites Francis to help them rob the old woman. Although Mac is a gangster as a teenager, when he returns from war…
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Mrs. Husting
Mrs. Husting is Jack’s mother. When Jack returns to Richmond as a grown man, Mrs. Husting still wants to treat him like a child and does not know how to respect his boundaries. Although…
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Mr. Husting
Mr. Husting is Jack’s father and young Kip’s first employer. Mr. Husting generally goes along with whatever his wife, Mrs. Husting, believes is best, and so also does not seem to understand…
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Violet
Violet is one of Stanzi’s counseling clients. Since Violet is a kleptomaniac with severe “daddy issues,” Stanzi assumes that Violet stole her father’s shilling. However, when Stanzi confronts her, Violet reveals that not…
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Annabel’s Father
Annabel’s father raised Annabel singlehandedly after his wife died in childbirth. Annabel and her father love each other dearly, but Annabel’s father is so grief-stricken that he becomes an alcoholic. As an adult, Annabel must…
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Minor Characters
Mrs. Keith
Mrs. Keith is a boarder in the Westaway’s house. However, when Mrs. Keith spies Kip playing with her underwear, she screams for so long about Kip being a pervert on the loose and a danger to society that Connie tells her she is no longer welcome in their home.
Mr. Ward
Mr. Ward owns the newspaper at which Connie’s father worked, and later employs Connie as a photographer’s assistant. Mr. Ward is a widower with children.
Jim Pike
Jim Pike is one of the gang of bullies who picks on Kip and incites Francis to help them rob the old woman.
Cray
Cray is one of the gang of bullies who picks on Kip and incites Francis to help them rob the old woman.
Jos
Jos is Mac’s sister, and an old acquaintance of Annabel.
Millie
Millie is an old acquaintance of Annabel.
Emily
Emily is a young woman whom Jack’s mother wants him to marry.
Tim
Tim is one of Alec’s friends who dies in a car crash.
