| | | Dottie |
| Dorothea | Krasinsky | A bookkeeper in Dover Insurance. Narrator. Aka: Dottie. |
| Mr. | Dover | Dottie's boss. Dover Insurance's owner. |
| Alfie | Krasinsky | Dottie's brother. Joey's twin. |
| Eugene | Krasinsky | Dottie's younger brother. |
| Mr. | Renke | Mr. Dover's client. |
| Zelda | | Dottie's closest friend. Perle's daughter. |
| Abe | Rabinowitz | Dottie's boyfriend. |
| Mr. | Norquist | Mr. Dover's client. |
| Irene | | Dottie's workmate. |
| Florence | | Dottie's workmate. |
| Mr. | Herbert | Dottie's bookkeeper. |
| Linda | Tewel | Ralph's girlfriend. Dottie's friend. |
| Ralph | | Linda's boyfriend. |
| Mr. | Baum | Dottie's neighbor. |
| Mrs. | Baum | Mr. Baum's wife. |
| Mrs. | Anscher | Dottie's neighbor. |
| Alice | | Mrs. Kaplan's 2-year-old daughter. |
| Mrs. | Kaplan | Dottie's neighbor. |
| Heshie | | Dottie's uncle. Rose's bachelor brother. |
| Franklyn | D. Roosevelt | Roosevelt. Aka: FDR. |
| Braddock | | An American Heavyweight Boxer. |
| Mussolini | | Former Prime Minister of Italy. |
| Adolf | Hitler | The leader of the Nazi Party. |
| Lana | | Rose's sewing friend. |
| Lefty | Iskowitz | Izzy's friend. |
| No Legs | Grossman | Izzy's friend. |
| Sadie | Kraus | A girl Dottie is jealous of. |
| Edith | | Dottie's friend. |
| William | Klein | Zelda's cousin. Father of Dottie's baby. Aka: Willie. |
| Shirley | | Zelda's daughter. |
| Mr. | Gimbel | A department store owner. |
| Mr. | Kraus | Sadie's father. |
| Mrs. | Kraus | Sadie's mother. |
| Nathan | Kraus | Sadie's brother. |
| Boris | Karloff | An actor. |
| Morris | Hillquit | A leader of the socialist party of America. |
| Molly | Klein | Willie's mother. Zelda's aunt. |
| Beverly | | Dottie's old friend. |
| James | | A waiter at Stork club. |
| Dorothy | Parker | An american poet. |
| Harold | Ross | The Atlantic magazine's boss. |
| | | JDC - Joint Distribution Committee. |
| Mrs. | Crane | A member of the Museum's board of trustees. |
| Fiona | | Mrs. Klein's servant. |
| Matthew | | Mrs. Klein's house servant. |
| Klein | | Mrs. Klein's house servant. |
| Mr. Ira | Klein | Willie's father. |
| Mrs. | Cohen | Rose's former neighbor who has a drunkard husband. |
| Mr. | Cohen | Mrs. Cohen's 2nd husband. |
| Mr. | Bechoff | Edith's boss. |
| | | Rose |
| Perle | Gittel-Brudner | Molly's sister-in-law. Zelda's mother. |
| Deborah | | Perle's childhood friend. |
| Ben | Krasinsky | Rose's husband. Dottie's father. Aka: Tateh, Beryl. |
| Rose | Krasinsky | Dottie's mother. One of the narrators. Aka: Raisa, Roseala. |
| Yussel | | Rose's brother. Dottie's uncle. |
| Gerda | | Yussel's wife. |
| Yitzak | | Rose's brother. Dottie's uncle. |
| Isidore | Krasinsky | Rose's son. Dottie's brother. Aka: Izzy. |
| Joey | Krasinsky | Rose's dead son. Alfie's twin. |
| Will | Rogers | An american actor. |
| Eta | | Rose's older sister. |
| Kate | Krasinsky | Ben's sister. Dottie's aunt. |
| Esther | Friedman | Organizer of women's conference re: the high cost of living. |
| Senator | Copeland | A United States Senator. |
| Bayla | | Rose's friend. |
| William | Foster | The General Secretary of the Communist party. |
| Max | | Deborah's young son. |
| Tatyana | | Rose's friend. |
| Mendel | | Bayla's husband. |
| Shmuel | | Rose's lover. |
| Yetta | | Rose's cousin. Aka: Ida. |
| Jeanette | | Yetta's daughter. |
| Dr. | Magnes | Rose's former teacher. |
| Deenah | | Rose's mother. Dottie's grandmother. |
| Freyde | | Rose's cousin. |
| Hirsh | Weinstein | Izzy's boss. |
| Mr. | Rabinowitz | Abe's father. |
| Mrs. | Rabinowitz | Abe's mother. |
| Dr. | Aeurbach | Rose's doctor. |