| 1 | Josephine | Armitage | Narrator and Protagonist. Aka: Jo. |
| | Jake | Armitage | Jo's husband. A film screenwriter. |
| | Mr. | Simpkin | The man that Jo hated. George's friend. |
| | Ireen | Douthwaite | Jo's former friend. |
| | Philpot | | Jake's colleague and mistress. |
| 2 | William | | Driver of Jake's father. |
| | Mrs. | Norris | The nanny of Jo's mother. |
| 3 | Poppy | | Philpot's daughter. |
| 4 | Dinah | | One of Jo's daughters. |
| 6 | Beth | Conway | One of the stars of "The Sphinx". Jake's mistress. |
| | John | Hurst | One of the stars of "The Sphinx". |
| | Maria | Dante | One of the stars of "The Sphinx". |
| 8 | Major | | Dinah's father. Jo's 2nd husband. |
| | Giles | | A professional violinist. Jo's 3rd husband. |
| 9 | Uncle | Ted | Jo's uncle. |
| | Betty | MacLaren | Jo's former classmate and friend. |
| | Angela | Williams | Jo's former classmate and friend. |
| | Mary | White | Jo's former classmate and friend. |
| | Norl | Coward | A playwright. |
| | Franco | | The general who invaded Spain. |
| | Brian | | Mary's lover. |
| | Roger | | Brian's friend. Mary's suitor. |
| | Eric | | Jo's friend. |
| | David | | Jo's friend. |
| | Eliabeth | | The current princess. |
| | Clark | Gable | An American film actor. |
| | Graham | | Jo's ex-boyfriend. |
| | George | | Jo's father. |
| | Clergyman's | son | The boy that Jo loves. |
| 12 | Doug | | One of Jake's colleagues. |
| | Bob | Conway | Beth's husband. |
| 13 | Ned | | The cameraman. |
| 16 | Meg | Evans | The woman who wrote a letter to Jo. |
