Kate Woodcroft
The opening pages of the novel literally present a checklist of what the reader should imagine when reading the first-person narrative of Kate. She is forty-two years old, divorced and childless, not especially beautiful but equipped with high, sharp cheekbones impossible to ignore. She is also a criminal barrister—England’s equivalent of a lawyer—who is especially conscious of the way that her femininity is downplayed by the famous robes, collar and wig worn by Brits in the courtroom. Her softer side is not the only disguise she wears: a traumatic event in her past results in major changes to her present.
James Whitehouse
A British politician with the almost unspeakably ironic named of James Whitehouse is described in a newspaper article as a junior Home Office minister who enjoys the special privilege of being a close confidante of the big cheese in the British government, the Prime Minister. The newspaper article is related to revelation of a typical British political sex scandal and James has already confessed to his wife of an affair he conducted with a pretty young staff member.
Sophie
Sophie is the wife. She is wise enough in the ways of politics to know that her husband is not always faithful to the truth as a matter of course, but is firmly convinced he would never lie to her. And this belief is further cemented by his decision to come clean about the affair. But as it turns out, there is going to be further reason for Sophie to question the extent to which she should be convinced James never lies to her.
Olivia Lytton
She is a parliamentary researcher. She’s fair tall at five-ten, and fairly striking with her blonde hair, and fairly young at twenty-eight, and more than just a little ambitious. It is that last bit which is going to wind up causing more trouble for Sophie—and a lot more trouble for James—than the blonde bombshell element. Sophie’s believe in the basic honesty of her husband is ironically cemented by his confession to an affair, but is almost instantly undermined with Olivia’s shocking accusation that far from being consensual, James Whitehouse raped her. A devastated James and Sophie turn to Kate Woodcroft for legal representation to defend him against the charges in court.
Holly Berry
The present-day in which the political scandal James being accused of rape by Olivia occurs in 2016. A flashback to the early 1990’s introduces a character named Holly Berry which produces amused responses among some, but not for the same reason it will do so in readers. (The joke is entirely related to Christmas vegetation as the soundalike celebrity was still several years away 007 and the Oscars.) The flashback details the arrival of Holly Berry onto the campus of Oxford University and her subsequent friendship with two other young students, named Sophie and James. Although recognizing that James already has his eye on Sophie, Holly develops a major crush on James until she accidentally happens to cross paths with him one night when he is drunk enough to forget all about Sophie. Consensual kissing soon turns dark and violent as James forces the issue to the point it becomes a traumatic event Holly can’t seem to escape.
