Michael Byrne
The narrative is told through his perspective as he recounts happenings from his life spanning from the loss of his sister as a young boy to admitting his father to the hospital as an adult. Michael reflects on his broken upbringing as if it were natural, because it is evident that many other children in his neighborhood experience similar circumstances. However, he is aware at all times that the violence he and others are forced to live with is not right.
Mick Byrne
Michael’s father is unsympathetic, introduced in the narrative as an abusive husband with an alcohol addiction. Throughout the novel he is violent and controlling, at one point convincing another neighborhood boy to spar with Michael expecting his son to severely beat him. By the end of the novel, Mick has been out of contact with his wife and children for years, and Michael is the only one who checks up on him as he drifts in and out of homeless accommodation and a mental hospital.
Michael's mother
From the novel we can see that she ended up marrying Mick because he got her pregnant. A pragmatic woman, she treads carefully around her abusive husband while attempting to raise her children to be respectful. She is proven resourceful, often picking through discarded furniture and items to see if anything can be salvaged for her home, and eventually managing to leave her husband when he is admitted to a hospital for a time.
May Byrne
Michael’s sister who died of meningitis two days before her 2nd birthday. She appears to have been the favorite child of Mick and after her death he is unable to deal with the emotional upheaval of her loss and for as long as he is in the house there are no mentions of May. At the end of the story, it is revealed that Michael has named one of his daughters after his late sister.
Katie Byrne
On what would have been May’s 3rd birthday Michael’s mother announces that she is pregnant again, much to her husband’s displeasure. Katie is Michael’s younger sister and while present for many of the events in the novel, does not play an active role in most. She is seen mostly as a child attempting to understand the violent world she has been born into, and by the end of the novel she disappears to London where she finds a ‘bloke’.
Charlie Noonan
A friend of Michael, Charlie is a neighborhood kid from the commission housing area Michael and his family are forced to move in to. He and Michael become close friends as they steal copper from decommissioned buildings and take cars for joy rides. Eventually, they have an accident in which Charlie is killed and Michael ends up hospitalized.
Michael's grandmother (Nan)
Michael’s maternal grandmother, Nan, is an interesting woman. She loves her late husband dearly, however once her daughter and grandkids move back in with her, they discover that she has a secret lover named Jack Morris. There is no reason for their relationship to be a secret, and most people are in fact aware of it, but they keep it quiet regardless. Once Jack passes Nan keeps his ashes in the kitchen and sometimes talks to them, to the discomfort of the rest of her family. Despite this, she is respected and a solid rock for the family to rely on.
Jack Morris
Jack is Nan’s lover and portrayed as an opposing male character to Mick. He is described as having ‘a quietness and slowness of movement’ that made him easy to be around. The kids, especially Katie, like him and he encourages Michael to remain in school and study. Michael attributes his career to Jack’s encouragement.
Alice Noonan
Charlie’s younger sister who partially blames Michael for his death. It is hinted that she and Michael may have had a childhood romance in the wake of dealing with Charlie’s death, however this is not confirmed.
Agnes Meagher
Agnes is mentioned in a story by Michael’s mother, where it is insinuated that she pays Nan to dispose of the body of an aborted foetus. She is also said to have helped the community by providing abortions, and by behaving as a kind of mortician and laying the dead out to be viewed by their family at a low cost.
Aunt Billie
Aunt Billie wears her bra over the top of her clothes and a big fur coat. She also has a habit of turning off her hearing aid when she doesn’t want to listen to someone who is talking to her and pretending to keep up the conversation. She is mentioned in passing as a means to tell when Christmas is coming, as she likes to send her Christmas cards out extremely early.
Emu Bailey
Emu Bailey deals in ‘disposable goods’ such as beer bottles and other such junk. He also is a source of information and gossip for the neighborhood
Ettie Rogers
Ettie Rodgers is mentioned as the previous owner of the Red House, and the reason that it is painted red is apparently as a political gesture to show that she did not agree with the rest of the neighborhood.
George Carter
George Carter is tricked by Michael’s father into having a sparring match with Michael, as he believes Michael will easily be able to beat him. A few weeks after the fight however, the two began speaking again as if it hadn’t happened.
Jean Lambert
Jean is a friend of Nan’s who works in the Lady’s underground toilets on Elizabeth street as a cleaner. Jean and Nan sit and gossip every week when Nan goes into town, sometimes with the kids in tow.
Liam
Liam is Michael’s grandfather and is mentioned as having passed already and waiting on his side of a double plot for his wife to join him.
Maree Rose McDonagh
Mick’s mother, mentioned near the end of the novel. Mick reveals that she died when he was 12 and that he refused to let the corpse go until he was dragged away from it. Michael takes Mick to visit her grave, and later takes his own children to visit her grave.
Eleanor & May
Michael’s daughters who are aged 7 and 4 respectively.
Mr Carboni
Landlord of the Red House. Mr Carboni is an Italian man who is described as helpful and kinder than other landlords around.
Sab Tulio
Sab Tulio is a peer of Michael that ends up finding a body in their neighborhood.
Scissors
Scissors was an apprentice with Mick in a shoe factory, and later recognizes Michael at the cemetery. He informs Michael of his dad’s possible whereabouts.
Soft John
Soft John is a local junk man that collects bike parts and reassembles them to sell to neighborhood kids.
The Butcher
The Butcher is another abusive alcoholic that lives in the neighborhood. At one point he beats his wife publicly and the rest of the neighborhood turns away and pretends not to see. He appears proud of himself for the beating. He is later bludgeoned to death by his wife, and then cut up and dropped in different areas of the neighborhood. His head is never found.
The Butcher's Wife
A victim of domestic abuse, the Butcher’s Wife ends up killing him after he beats and rapes her for hours one night. She is acquitted of criminal charges because of the abuse.
Wilma Carson (Kit)
Kit is a ‘women’s doctor’ who performs abortions. The local women don’t speak to her, and most people keep their distance because of her profession. However, it is noted by Michael’s mother that she provides an essential service and that she respects Kit, even if she won’t be close to her socially because of it.
