The City We Became Characters

Manny, one of the novel’s protagonists, is Manhattan’s avatar. He’s likely in his late 20s, and he has “yellowy brown” skin, brown eyes, glasses, and a handsome yet “nondescript” face. Though Black, he’s racially ambiguous… read analysis of Manny (Manhattan)

Bronca, a nearly 70-year-old Lenape woman, is the director of the Bronx Art Center, where she works with Yijing, Jess, and Veneza. When Bronca was 11, men in her neighborhood sexually harassed… read analysis of Bronca Siwanoy (The Bronx)

Aislyn Houlihan, a 30-year-old Irish American woman, lives on Staten Island with her controlling, abusive father Matthew and her mother Kendra. At New York City’s birth, Staten Island chooses Aislyn to be its avatar… read analysis of Aislyn Houlihan (Staten Island)

The central antagonist, the Woman in White is an entity from a parallel dimension seeking to destroy New York City and, ultimately, humanity. She fights New York City’s avatar, Manny, Bronca, Brooklyn… read analysis of The Woman in White (The Enemy) (R’lyeh)

Padmini is a 25-year-old Indian immigrant living with her parent’s cousin Aishwarya in Jackson Heights, Queens. Padmini loves theoretical mathematics, but she’s studying for a master’s degree in financial engineering and working on Wall Street… read analysis of Padmini Prakash (Queens)

An assistant at the Bronx Art Center where Bronca, Yijing, and Jess work, Veneza is a half-Black, half-Portuguese former art school student from Jersey City, New Jersey. Bronca considers Veneza a great friend… read analysis of Veneza (Jersey City)

New York City’s avatar is a thin young Black man, a talented graffiti artist, homeless after his mother threw him out of the house (possibly for being gay). His father is dead, and his mother’s… read analysis of New York City’s Avatar

The avatar of São Paolo, Paolo is a “stylish” Brazilian man who uses cigarettes and business cards as symbols of his city. Born in a favela (slum neighborhood) of São Paolo, Paolo became its avatar… read analysis of Paolo (São Paolo)

The avatar of Hong Kong, Hong is a tall, frowning Asian man who wears business suits and looks 50-something, though he is actually around 200 years old. Before he became Hong Kong’s avatar, he lived… read analysis of Hong (Hong Kong)

Aislyn’s father and Kendra’s husband, Matthew is a controlling, abusive man who, constantly warns Aislyn against leaving her own borough, monitors how many miles she drives, and may have installed a GPS tracker… read analysis of Matthew Houlihan

Aislyn’s mother and Matthew’s wife, Kendra is a housewife in her 50s with pale skin, black hair, and “sad” eyes. As a young woman, she became pregnant by Matthew and, shortly after, received… read analysis of Kendra Houlihan

A tall, bearded white man with a “strawberry-blond manbun,” Strawberry Manbun is the unofficial leader of the Alt Artistes, a right-wing art collective that attempts to convince Bronca to exhibit their bigoted paintings at the… read analysis of Strawberry Manbun

A neo-Nazi friend of Matthew Houlihan’s, Conall is a young man with a waxed mustache, glasses, and many tattoos, one of which is a swastika. When he comes to stay with the Houlihan family… read analysis of Conall McGuiness

A coworker of Bronca, Jess, and Veneza at the Bronx Art Center, Yijing dislikes and fights with Bronca—who retaliates against her by “slut-shaming” her, alluding to her previous sexual liaison with Raul… read analysis of Yijing

Jess runs the “experimental theater program” at the Bronx Art Center, where Bronca, Yijing, and Veneza also work. A Jewish woman who had two grandparents die in the Holocaust, Jess is immediately suspicious… read analysis of Jess

Raul, a sculptor of Chicano heritage, is the development chair of the board of the Bronx Art Center, where Bronca, Yijing, Jess, and Veneza work. He is also a one-time sexual partner… read analysis of Raul

A cousin of one of Padmini’s parents, Aishwarya lives with her husband, her child, and Padmini in Jackson Heights, Queens. After Padmini leaves Queens with Manny and Brooklyn, Paolo comes looking for them… read analysis of Aishwarya

A “lanky” British Asian man, Bel is a Ph.D. candidate in political theory at Columbia University and Manny’s roommate in his Inwood apartment. He likes nature due to good childhood experiences in Yorkshire near… read analysis of Bel Nguyen

A “very young white woman,” Madison grew up in Chelsea with her two mothers, who named her after Madison Avenue because they used an IVF clinic nearby to conceive her. She drives an antique Checker… read analysis of Madison

Clyde Thomason is Brooklyn Thomason’s father and Jojo’s grandfather. During the economic struggles of the 1970s, he bought two Brooklyn brownstones for $60,000. Now a wheelchair-user, Clyde lives in one brownstone, renovated for… read analysis of Clyde Thomason

Padmini’s neighbor in Jackson Heights, Queens, Mrs. Yu is an elderly Chinese woman who suffers from osteoporosis and owns a backyard swimming pool. To capture Padmini, the Woman in White boobytraps the bottom of… read analysis of Mrs. Yu