Norman
Norman is the eldest brother of the Maclean boys. He is a writer and more disciplined than his brother. Norman falls in love with and marries Jessie, and they move to Chicago where, he becomes a professor of English Literature at the University of Chicago.
Paul
Paul is the youngest of the Maclean boys. He has never left Montana, and has become a reporter for the local newspaper, and has run up a massive debt in a backroom poker game to some very bad men. He has become an artist on the river as a fly fisherman, but his life is cut short when he is beaten to death over his gambling debts.
Reverend John Maclean
Mr. Maclean is the patriarch of the Maclean family, married to Clara. They have two sons, Norman and Paul. He is a Reverend and leads the church in his town in Montana. He is a man who prizes discipline and structure and has a deep love for fly fishing and his boys. The Reverend is heartbroken by the death of his son Paul.
Clara Maclean
Clara is John's wife and mother to Norman and Paul. She loves her boys deeply, but is hurt greatly hurt by Paul's inability to tell the truth about what is happening in his life as he continues to run from it and hide it from her and John. She is fierce about her sons loving one another.
Jessie
Jessie is a young woman from Montana. She and Norman begin a relationship in which they both all in love and marry. She moves to Chicago when Norman gets a job as a professor at the University of Chicago. She is a no-nonsense woman, one who is tough and understanding.
