Esi Sekyl
Esi is the protagonist of the novel. She is strong willed, determined and well-educated, having prioritized ambition and career over most other things in her life. When we meet her she is living with her husband and daughter, but the marriage is crumbling because her husband wants a traditional, meek and mild wife, and Esi is definitely not that. As well as working hard at the office, Esi often brings work home with her, which angers her husband more because she is not paying the attention to him that he feels she should.
Esi realizes that she has been raped by her husband, but also knows that she can do nothing about it legally since there is no such concept in Ghana of a man raping his wife. She decides to leave him because she does not want to stay with a man who has raped her. She has always been independent of spirit and now she wants to be genuinely independent in her life as well.
Esi believes that falling in love with Ali, and agreeing to become his secondary wife, might be the perfect arrangement; she will have a husband, yet not have to live with him or prioritize him over her career. Unfortunately the marriage does not work out as she expects. She is left feeling abandoned and isolated, and although the two maintain a lifelong close friendship, there is no romantic connection after the first three years of the marriage.
Ali Kondey
Ali is a polygamist Muslim man whose ideas about women are very traditional, and anachronistic. His first wife was his childhood sweetheart, and despite knowing that she has always wanted to attend college, he insists that she gives up her educational ambitions once they are married. Her sole identity is that of his wife and the mother of his chlld. Ali is cosmopolitan, handsome and intelligent, and he uses his global travel as an excuse to meet and date multiple women at one time. He is also exceptionally shallow and once he has married Esi he grows bored with their relationship, preferring the excitement of the chase to the reality of a legitimate relationship. He placates her (he thinks) with lavish gifs but it does not work quite so well with Esi as it does with his wife. He is a philanderer and a player, and has multiple affairs throughout his marriage.
Oko Sekyi
Esi's first husband loves her deeply despite their differences. He was raised in a very traditional household and has trouble understanding his very untraditional wife. He wants to have another child but Esi refuses. He wants them to spend more time together but her work and travel commitments preclude this. He rapes his wife because he wants force her to become the wife that he wants, and this leads to their divorce. He does not really get over their separation despite having a new young, pretty wife gifted to him by his mother, and he bottles up his anger, which is released when he runs into Esi with Ali at her house and a violent confrontation ensues.
Ogyaanowa Sekyi
Like most children whose parents have a bitter and difficult relationship, Ogyaanowa is caught in the middle of her parents' horrible relationship. She is shuffled between the two once they have divorced and it is clear that this experience is going to affect her view of relationships and marriage for the rest of her life. Despite seeing her mother regularly she is mainly raised by her father, and by his mother, who fills her head with poison about Esi; this leads to a breakdown of Esi's relationship with her daughter and the two become estranged.
Opokuya Dakwa
Esi's best friend is a more traditional wife and mother than Esi, although she does work, very hard, as a nurse. She fights a great deal with her husband who believes that he is superior to her because he is a man. They fight most about who gets to use the car, and he always seems to be the one who wins the argument. Opokuya is a supportive friend and a real rock for Esi at her most difficult times. This is one of Opokuya's key characteristics, as she is always the nurturer for others, and most of the time puts her own needs second to theirs.
Kubi Dakwa
Kubi is Opokyua's husband and can be obnoxious and arrogant. He controls the use of the car that the couple share, despite the fact that his wife needs the car to get to work and he needs it to go nowhere in particular. He is friends with Oko and extremely hostile towards Esi after the divorce, but this does not prevent him from hitting on Esi towards the end of the novel. He is the representation of a stereotypical man and patriarchal figure within the family, and is entirely self-absorbed.
Fusena Kondey
The stereotypical African Muslim wife, Fusena is Ali's first wife and has known him since the two were children. She abandons her own goals, ambitions and identity to become wife and mother. She longs to go back to school and finish her degree but Ali holds her back. She is also forced to accept a second wife coming into their marriage but his choice of woman - educated, intelligent, well-travelled - is like a knife through the heart because he has chosen to be with a woman he refuses to let her become.
