Akiko Bradley
Born Soon Hyo, Akiko is Becca's mother and a native-born Korean. She's a strong woman who has survived the horrors of her slavery during WWII in order to raise her daughter in a healthier life. After losing both parents at a young age, she was sold by her sister to the Japanese. They use her as a sex slave in one of their army recreation camps for the duration of the war. She barely survives the experience but manages to escape and make her own way in the world. She marries a man named Bradley in order to escape from Asia. He takes her to Hawaii where she discovers that she's pregnant from her time in the camp. Over the years she is a faithful wife to Bradley, but she doesn't love him. After her experiences she cannot bring herself to be emotionally intimate with anybody except her daughter and briefly at that. She adamantly believes that she can communicate with the spirit world and works as a medium at a local cafe on the Big Island. As an avid spiritualist, she often goes into trances and indulges in erratic behavior, doubtless to cope with her trauma. She cursed her husband, wishing him dead, and takes credit for his eventual passing.
Beccah Bradley
Beccah has grown up a pretty happy, normal kid in Hawaii. She's often resented her mother for behaving so strangely and professing spiritualism, blaming her for not supporting her emotionally. At her mother's deathbed, she learns the truth about Akiko's past and about her father's death. Of course she's stunned by the news, but she possesses her mother's fortitude to survive. She makes peace with Akiko, forgiving her for past wrongs. She decides to spread her mom's story in order to bring healing to other women who share her experiences and to shed light upon the travesties committed by the Japanese during the war. She's proud of her heritage and most importantly of her mother's bravery in surviving those experiences.
Mr. Bradley
He's an American who decides to take a wife back to Hawaii with him after the war. A cold, stern man, he receives Akiko's silence as demure submission. He's a harsh man to live with, often making Akiko regrets her decision to marry him. Although she is not his child, he raises Beccah like his daughter, but he's still a rather absent father.
The Minister
He and his family take in Akiko after she escapes from the camp. He's eager to place her in a home for adoption, but Akiko knows that the Japanese will likely enslave her as a house servant. When she objects, he suggests she marry this man, Bradley, to which she silently agrees.
