Jacques Austerlitz
Jacques is the protagonist. Forced to emigrate from Czechoslovakia during WWII, he is a grown adult now facing the pain of his past. He's desperate to know more about his parents and his heritage, which was robbed from him as a child. He devotes himself to studying the history of southern Europe in an attempt to make sense of how the whole world committed such terrible acts of violence against one another.
The Narrator
The narrator is not the main character, nor named throughout the book. He or she befriends Jacques in Antwerp. As Jacques learns more, he reaches out to the narrator to talk about his gradually unfolding history. The narrator is a patient friend who travels around Europe, catching up with Jacques when possible.
Vera
Vera lives in Prague. When Jacques was young, she would watch him while his parents went out. She survived the war but had lost touch with him when he was sent to Britain. Hesitant to unload all of her memories on the young man, she keeps her reserve. She tells him bits and pieces of what she remembers about his parents, always trying to portray them in a heroic light.
Marie de Verneuil
Jacques meets Marie in Paris. She's a native born Frenchwoman with a passion for literature. They meet in the library one day and form a sweet friendship. When Jacques has a nervous breakdown while in Paris, he asks her to care for him, to which she readily agrees.
