Lakshmi
The narrator and protagonist of the novel, Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl from a remote mountain village in Nepal. Before her stepfather sells her into sexual slavery, Lakshmi is the top student in her class. In addition to helping her mother on the farm, Lakshmi lovingly cares for her goat, Tali, and her cucumber patch. She is romantically interested in Krishna, to whom she is betrothed.
In the Happiness House, Lakshmi is resourceful and courageous. She resists Mumtaz, enduring beatings and starvation. Lakshmi secretly learns English words and carefully calculates her earnings. At the end of the text, she seizes her opportunity to escape from Happiness House despite Mumtaz's threats.
Ama
Lakshmi's mother, Ama, works tirelessly to provide for her family. She is thirty-one years old and has never left her mountain village. All of Ama's children, except Lakshmi and her baby brother, died in infancy or were miscarried. After her first husband died, Ama married Lakshmi's stepfather, believing having a man is necessary for survival. Ama fixates on obtaining a tin roof, believing it is an important status symbol.
Stepfather
Lakshmi's stepfather married Ama after her husband died. He has a deformed arm, which means he cannot work. He spends all day drinking and gambling, losing the family's few possessions. Lakshmi's stepfather is the one who sells her into sexual slavery.
Tali
Tali is Lakshmi's goat and companion. Ama often remarks that Tali "thinks she is a person."
Bajai Sita
Bajai Sita is an old trader woman in Lakshmi's village. She helps broker Lakshmi's sale into sex slavery.
Gita
Gita is Lakshmi's childhood friend who moved to the city, supposedly to work as a maid in a wealthy family's home.
Krishna
Krishna is Lakshmi's "sleepy cat-eyed" betrothed. The two children share a mutual attraction before Lakshmi is sold into sexual slavery.
Aunty Bimla
Bimla approaches Lakshmi at a festival and tempts her to move to the city. She is notable for her yellow fabric garments, excessive jewelry, and black teeth. Bilma calls herself Lakshmi's "new Aunty" and sells her to Mumtaz.
Uncle Husband
Uncle Husband is an older man who smuggles Lakshmi out of Nepal into India. He convinces Lakshmi to trust him by buying her treats before selling her to Mumtaz.
Mumtaz
Mumtaz is the cruel, despotic owner of Happiness House and the main antagonist of Sold. Mumtaz buys underage girls to work in her brothel and keeps all their earnings. Though she herself is the picture of indulgence and excess, Mumtaz starves, beats, and humiliates the girls. She pays off police officers and threatens the girls to keep them submissive.
Shahanna
Originally from Nepal, Shahanna is a pretty girl who works alongside Lakshmi at the Happiness House. She befriends Lakshmi, bringing her tea and helping her understand the basic customs of the Happiness House. After a raid on the brothel, Shahanna goes missing, and Lakshmi never discovers her friend's fate.
Anita
Anita tried to escape the brothel before Lakshmi arrived but was hunted down and beaten. As a result, her face is permanently disfigured. Anita and Lakshmi become friends, but Anita refuses to flee the Happiness House with Lakshmi.
Pushpa
Pushpa chose to work at the Happiness House after her husband died. She provides for her two children, Jeena and Harish. Puspha frequently coughs and is too weak to work, so Mumtaz forces her and her family to leave Happiness House.
Harish
Harish is Pushpa's eight-year-old son. Harish is obsessed with the soccer player David Beckham; he wears a David Beckham jersey, prompting Lakshmi to refer to him as "The David Beckham boy." Harish helps out around the brothel and runs errands for a bit of money. He tries to take care of his mother and sister, though other children bully him for living in a brothel. Harish befriends Lakshmi, sharing his storybooks and teaching her English and Hindi.
Monica
The highest earner at Happiness House, Monica is referred to as the "thirsty vine" because she is a master seductress. She has a temper and initially intimidates Lakshmi, but later, Monica reveals she works at Happiness House to pay for her father's medical bills and her daughter's school fees. Monica is obsessed with movie stars and acts out stories when the television breaks.
Monica makes enough money to pay off her debts to Mumtaz, but upon returning home, she is beaten by her own father and shunned by her family. After returning to Happiness House, Monica gives Lakshmi a well-loved rag doll before she is kicked out for contracting HIV.
Shilpa
Shilpa is Mumtaz's assistant and spy. Since her mother was a sex worker, Shilpa began working at a brothel when she was a young girl. To numb the pain of sleeping with clients, Shilpa's mother gave her alcohol, and Shilpa quickly became an alcoholic.
Tea Salesman
A young man sells tea to the women in Happiness House. Though she never learns his name, Lakshmi and the tea salesman share a connection. He accepts beatings to give Lakshmi free tea and Coca-Cola, and contacts the American organization that rescues Lakshmi.
