| Lea |
Abrams | Henry Falkes's wife. |
| Carlo |
Benedetti | Eleanor's ex-boyfriend. |
| Mrs. |
Bowles | Susanna's grandmother. Aka: Granny Bowles. |
| Melvyn |
Bragg | Radio host. |
| George |
Bush | Referenced U.S. president. |
| Dominic |
Byrne | Will Falkes's tutor. |
| Louisa |
Cantwell | Marina Cantwell's daughter. |
| Marina |
Cantwell | Friend of Mr. Phipps. |
| Benjamin |
Cardozo | Anne and Jim Cardozo's son. |
| James |
Cardozo | Eleanor's ex-boyfriend. Aka: Jim. |
| Nathan Isaac |
Cardozo | Anne and Jim Cardozo's son. Aka: Nate. |
| Rebecca |
Cardozo | Anne and Jim Cardozo's daughter. |
| Simon |
Cardozo | Anne and Jim Cardozo's son. |
| Jimmy |
Connors | Referenced American tennis player. |
| Mr. |
Darling | Fictional character from Peter Pan. |
| John |
Earlham | Penultimate speaker at an event. |
| Katherine |
Ellway | Jack's wife. |
| Mary Ann |
Evans | Harry Falkes's ex-girlfriend. |
| Alice |
Falkes | Eleanor's granddaughter. |
| Elizabeth |
Falkes | Eleanor's granddaughter. |
| Harry |
Falkes | Eleanor and Rupert's son. |
| Henry |
Falkes | Priest who found Rupert. |
| John |
Falkes | Eleanor's son. |
| Rupert |
Falkes | Eleanor's husband. |
| Samuel |
Falkes | Eleanor's son; Harry's brother. Aka: Sam. |
| Thomas |
Falkes | Eleanor's son. Aka: Tom. |
| William |
Falkes | Eleanor's son. Aka: Will. |
| Penelope |
Fitzgerald | Referenced actress. |
| Judge |
Friendly | Federal judge. Aka: Judge Friendly. |
| Betty |
Frost | One of the librarians. |
| Prudence |
Goffe | Susanna Goffe's mother. |
| Susanna |
Goffe | Sam Falkes's best friend. |
| Frances |
Gore | Will Falkes's wife. Aka: Francie. |
| David |
Hume | Referenced philosopher. |
| John F. |
Kennedy | Referenced U.S. president. |
| David |
Kessler | Dean at Nathan Cardozo's school. |
| Yom |
Kippur | Black man appointed to the Supreme Court. |
| Henry |
Kissinger | Referenced American politician. |
| Andrew |
Lanahan | Sam Falkes's boyfriend. |
| Ethel |
Lehman | Anne Lewisohn-Lehman's mother. |
| Anne |
Lewisohn-Lehman | Jim Cardozo's wife. |
| Bill |
Macy | Will Falkes's friend. |
| Joe |
Macy | One of Bill Macy's sons. |
| Stefan |
Malinowski | YMCA lifeguard; Vera Wolinski's current boyfriend. |
| Mrs. |
Mortimer | Sam Falkes's teacher. |
| George |
Orwell | Referenced author. |
| Edward |
Phipps | Eleanor's father. Aka: Poppa. |
| Eleanor |
Phipps-Falkes | Protagonist; wife of Rupert Falkes and matriarch of the Falkes family. |
| Virginia |
Porter | Eleanor's mother. Aka: Mrs. Phipps. |
| Emily |
Post | Referenced etiquette expert and author. |
| Gene |
Rostow | Legal scholar and public servant. Aka: Dean Rostow. |
| Caroline |
Steinway | Tom Falkes's wife. |
| Ben |
Straus | One of Anne Lewisohn-Lehman's cousins. |
| Pauline |
Straus | Ethel Lehman's sister. |
| Clarissa |
Van Vilet | Eleanor's classmate at Brearley. |
| J.B. |
Watson | Psychologist referenced in the text. |
| Daria |
Wolinski | Vera Wolinski's sister. |
| Hugh |
Wolinski | Vera and Rupert's son. |
| Lain |
Wolinski | Vera and Rupert's son. |
| Ruta |
Wolinski | Vera Wolinski's mother. |
| Vera |
Wolinski | Woman claiming Rupert fathered her children. |
| Carter |
| Louisa Cantwell's boyfriend. |
| De Campo |
| Susanna Goffe's great-grandmother. |
| Ewell |
| Referenced character who killed Tom Robinson. |
| Gosford |
| Eleanor's lawyer. |
| Greg |
| Jim Cardozo's friend. |
| Mary |
| Frances Gore's grandmother. |
| Stephen |
| Rupert Falkes's oncologist. |
| Ted |
| Jim Cardozo's friend. |
