| Martin | Benneker | A rich novelist. Joe's friend. |
| Dusty | Berkowitz | A novelist's wife. Joan's friend |
| Sylvie | Blacker | Joe's editor. |
| Lucy | Bloodworth | A short story writer. |
| Nathaniel | Bone | The literary critic. |
| Abigail | Brenner | Joan's classmate. |
| Lev | Bresner | A novelist and holocaust survivor. Joe's friend. |
| Tosha | Bresner | Lev's wife. |
| Alice | Castleham | David's sister. |
| David | Castleham | Joe and Joan's son. |
| Fanny | Castleham | Joe's daughter. |
| Joan Ames | Castleham | Protagonist and Narrator. |
| Joseph | Castleham | Joan's rich husband. A famous writer. Aka: Joe. |
| Lorna | Castleham | Joe's mother. |
| Martin | Castleham | Joe's father. |
| Susannah | Castleham | David's sister. |
| Merry | Cheslin | The writer that Joe met at the writing conference called Butternut Peak. |
| Irwin | Clay | Joe's agent. |
| Mary | Croy | Joan's friend. An editorial assistant. |
| Rochelle | Darnton | A short story writer. One of Joe's students. |
| Deirdre | Denbold | Michael's wife. |
| Michael | Denbold | A literature instructor. A character in The Walnut story. |
| Milton | Fish | A salesman. |
| Chancey | Foster | Joan's acuqiantance. |
| Michael | Furey | The character in James Joyce's novel. |
| Clark | Gable | The man that Aunt Lois likes. |
| Manny | Gumpert | Joan's acquaintance. |
| Pippa | Halonen | Teuvo's wife. |
| Teuvo | Halonen | The acting president of the Finish Academy of Letters. |
| Lilian | Hellman | A female writer. |
| Audrey | Hepburn | A British actress. |
| Kyosti | Hynninen | A flight passenger. |
| Harry | Jacklin | Joe's friend. |
| Maria | Jacklin | Harry's wife. |
| James | Joyce | A novelist. |
| Judge | Kaufman | The justice. |
| Karita | Kristian | Timo's wife. |
| Timo | Kristian | The Finland President. |
| Janice | Leidner | A novelist's wife. Joan's friend |
| Bonnie | Limp | Joe's first girlfriend. |
| Don | Lofting | A playwright. |
| Aunt | Lois | Joe's aunt. Aka: Lois Ackerman. |
| Bob | Lovejoy | A baby-faced editor. |
| Susan | Lwoe | Denbold's student. |
| Chester | Mackey | One of the book's characters. |
| Mary | McCarthy | One of the most important women writers. |
| Carson | McCullers | A female writer. |
| Elaine | Mozell | A novelist. Joan's acquiantance. |
| Flannery | O'Connor | The American novelist. |
| Valerian | Qaanaaq | A novelist who was a member of the Inuit Tribe of Labrador. |
| Dr. | Ruffner | Joe's doctor. |
| Erik | Salonen | A chemical engineer. Kirsti's wife. |
| Kirsti | Salonen | Joan's acquaintance. |
| Lyle | Samuelson | A professor at City College. Joe's friend. |
| Mrs. | Schuyler | A general store owner. |
| Aleksandr | Solzhenitsyn Trebek | The host at Butternut Peak. |
| Laura | Sonnengard | Joan's friend. |
| Louis | Strickler | The characters in Joe's book. |
| Margaret | Strickler | The characters in Joe's book. |
| Professor | Tanaka | Joe's colleague. |
| Edith | Tansley | A powerful woman editor. |
| Dylan | Thomas | A writer. |
| Liana | Thorne | Randall's wife. Joan's friend. |
| Randall | Thorne | The former famous writer. |
| Dr. | Tom | Brenda's doctor. |
| Dr. | Vikram | Joe's cardiologist. |
| Aunt | Viv | Joe's aunt. |
| Carol | Welchak | Joe's first wife. |
| Simone | Well | A French writer. |
| Hal | Wellman | Joe's editor. Joan's boss. |
| Mr. | Wellman | Joan's employer. |
| Susan | Whittle | The redheaded girl on Joan's class. |
| Thorton | Wilder | The famous writer that Joan's parents met. |
| Virginia | Woolf | An English writer. |
| Ken | Wooten | A novelist whose novels were adapted into film. |
| Dymphna | Worrell | The element of creative writing teacher. |
| Belstein | | One of Tosha's friends. A novelist. |
| Brenda | | The prostitute. |
| Descartes | | Nathaniel's colleague. |
| Digby | | A black homosexual at the party. |
| Don | | The man at the party. |
| Dr. Krentz | | The Castleham's doctor. |
| Hal | | Joe's long-time editor. Deceased. |
| Ike | | Lyle and Joe's friend. |
| Jeannie | | The shy female poet. |
| Lee | | A journalist. |
| Louise | | Joe's friend. |
| Mark | | Sussanah's boyfriend. |
| Melinda | | Joan and Joe's live-in babysitter. |
| Mims | | Joe's grandmother. |
| Raymond | | Lee's husband. |
| Roz | | Don's partner. |
