Sophie
Sophie is the main character in the novel. In the beginning, she is a twelve-year-old girl who lives with her grandmother and her aunt in Haiti while her mother is in New York. Sophie is happy with her life in Haiti and she enjoys spending her time with her aunt who became like a mother to her. Sophie has recurrent nightmares and she dreams her mother will come one day and take her forcefully from the only home she knows.
One day, Sophie is told that she must leave her aunt and go live with her mother. The change affects Sophie drastically. In New York, Sophie must adapt to a new life with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend. Martine’s boyfriend becomes Sophie’s father figure. Sophie is encouraged to focus on her studies and on learning the English language. While she agrees that it took a lot of effort, her actions were not in vain. Martine tries to make sure that Sophie will never have to go through what she went through so she is very protective. Sophie is subject to being "tested" and the events traumatize her to such an extent that she breaks her hymen on purpose just to stop her mother’s testing. She then marries a man named Joseph with whom she has a child named Brigitte. Just like her mother, Sophie begins to have troubles with her own body and with her self-image. She develops an unhealthy relationship with food and because she is unable to enjoy sex she sees it as being something she must do to please her husband. Sophie travels to Haiti after she has her daughter in an attempt to make peace with her past and it is there where Sophie reconciles with her mother. Despite being a lot like her mother, Sophie distances herself from Martine by trying to change the negative aspects from her life and turning her life for the better.
Sophie is smart, thoughtful, intuitive, and diffident. She is willing to challenge her own demons and attains a degree of self-understanding and reconciliation with her family and her past.
Martine
Martine is Sophie’s mother, a woman originally from Haiti who decided to move to New York when she was just a young girl. Martine suffered a traumatic event in her youth when she was raped at the age of sixteen in a corn field; she became pregnant with Sophie from the rape. Not being able to deal with the trauma, Martine tried to kill herself but was unsuccessful so she decided to leave Haiti and go the United States where she hoped to build a new life for herself. There, she found love with another Haitian man named Marc and when Sophie was twelve, Martine decided to bring Sophie to New York. Martine feared Sophie going down the same path she went so Martine began testing Sophie the same way Martine was tested by her mother. When Martine found out that Sophie lost her virginity, she threw her out of the house and stopped talking with Sophie for two years. Martine never stopped loving Sophie and this is easy to see when Martine doesn’t fail to come to Haiti when she finds that Sophie is there. Martine becomes unstable when she finds that she is pregnant again with Marc’s child because she is plagued by the memory of her rapist and feels that by giving birth to the child she will bring a piece of evil into the world. Martine kills herself towards the end of the novel by stabbing herself in the stomach with an old knife.
Martine does not desire to confront the things that haunt her, which ultimately leads her to finally take control over her life and body by, ironically, killing herself.
Atie
Atie is Martine's sister and Sophie's aunt who took care of Sophie for the majority of her childhood. After Martine left for New York, Atie was the one left to take care of her young niece. Atie became a surrogate mother for Sophie and in the young girl’s mind Atie was more like a mother to her than Martine. Atie went to great lengths to make Sophie understand that she was not her real mother, knowing that one day Sophie will have to return to her real mother. After Sophie leaves, Atie deteriorates somewhat but she does finally learn to read and uses writing and reading to carve out her own identity. She feels betrayed by her friends and by an old love from her childhood and she never manages to get over her disappointment. Atie refuses to leave Haiti and go to New York with her sister thus proving just how attached Atie is to the country she was born in.
Atie is bold, independent, emotional, strong, and giving. She doesn't get some of the things she wants out of life but she does the best with what she has.
Joseph
Joseph is an African-American man living next to Sophie and her mother. Sophie notices Joseph when she turns eighteen and he is the only man she knows beside Marc. Joseph distinguishes himself from other men by being a gentleman and by not forcing Sophie into anything she is not ready to do. Joseph is significantly older than Sophie and he could be the age of Sophie’s father, so the relationship between them is based more on trust than on sexual attraction. Joseph is the one who takes Sophie to the hospital when she breaks her hymen and when she doesn’t stop bleeding he is there by her side and during her pregnancy. Joseph takes care of Sophie while she is pregnant and his music lulls both the unborn baby and the mother. When Sophie runs away with the baby, Joseph is worried that something happened to them and when he sees them safe and sound he is ready to take them back.
Joseph is a thoughtful, kind, and patient man. He is a good husband and father and is willing to work through his wife's problems with her.
Grandmè Ifé
Grandmè Ifé is the matriarch of the Caco family, Martine and Atie’s mother. Grandmè Ifé lives in Haiti and she is taken care of by Atie. Her method of testing mentally scarred her daughters by making them feel violated. Her intentions are, however, pure and she only wants to take care of her daughters. After Martine kills herself, Grandmè Ifé is the one who helps Sophie recover and get back on track. Grandmè Ifé tries to convince Atie to go with Sophie and Martine to New York but she is unsuccessful so Atie remains by Grandmè Ifé ‘s side.
Marc
Marc is a successful lawyer in New York of Haitian origin. Marc and Martine are in a long-term relationship but they hesitate to marry or move in together. Even after Martine gets pregnant the two still don't do either. Despite being with Martine for a long time, he still is not able to understand her so he cannot stop her when Martine tries to kill herself.
Brigitte
Brigitte is Joseph and Sophie’s infant daughter. She was conceived on the first night Sophie and Joseph had sex and Sophie takes Brigitte with her when she goes to Haiti.
Madame Augustin
Madame Augustin is Donald Augustin’s wife. She is a busybody.
Donald Augustin
Donald Augustin is Atie’s former lover who left her and married another woman. Atie was never able to get over her old love, so she made a habit of watching Donald and his wife get ready to go to bed every night.
Louise
Louise is a street vendor in Haiti who befriends Atie. She is the one who teaches Atie how to read and write but she is also a negative influence on Atie, taking her to parties and contributing to her alcoholism. Louise dreams of leaving Haiti so when she does just that without saying goodbye to Atie she breaks her friend’s heart. It is subtly implied that she and Atie may be lovers.
Buki
Buki is an Ethiopian college student who had her genitals mutilated by her grandmother when she was a young girl. Buki is one of the members of the sex phobia group that Sophie attends.
Rena
Rena is Sophie’s therapist. Rena is a black woman whom Sophie trusts and who encourages Sophie to conquer her fears. She is an initiated Santeria priestess.
Chabin
Chabin is an albino man in Haiti from whom Atie buys lottery tickets frequently.
Davina
Davina is a member of the sexual phobia group that Sophie attends. Davina was sexually abused by her grandfather since an early age and she became scared to have a sexual relationship because of it.
Eliab
Eliab is a local boy who hangs around the village and Sophie's grandmother and aunt's house in Haiti.
