Subhash Mitra
The protagonist of the story, Subhash is an academic and reserved character who grew up in Calcutta in India but later moves to Rhode Island. At a young age, he and his younger brother are thick as thieves but part ways when their interests begin to differ. He is caring and always there for others, in Rhode Island he gets romantically involved with a single mother, Holly, who later goes back to her child’s father. He marries his brother’s widow and cares for his niece as his own child even after the mother abandons them.
Udayan Mitra
Subhash’s younger brother and a radical member of the Naxalite Movement that contends to fight for the lower class. He is quite the opposite of his brother as he neglects academic pursuits for the cause. He is shot and killed by paramilitary police early on in the narrative leaving behind Gauri and their unborn child Bela.
Gauri Mitra
She is Udayan’s widow and later becomes the wife to Subhash after which they move to Rhode Island. She is an antagonist in the story as she is portrayed as an intelligent yet self-centered individual. She is incapable of resolving the heartache of her first husband's death which affects her relationship with Subhash and also her daughter, Bela. She eventually becomes neglectful and abandons her daughter and her husband, Subhash.
Bela Mitra
The daughter to Gauri and Udayan but raised by Subhash as her father without knowing for a long time the whole truth about his biological father. In her teenage years, she develops mental issues but later recovers and pursues her education in arts. She resents her mother for abandoning her and Subhash and denies her the right to be a grandmother to her child.
Holly
The woman Subhash meets in Rhode Island while attending graduate school and begins a romantic relationship. She is a single mother to a son named Joshua. She is willing to be amicable with her ex-husband Keith regarding the co-parenting situation. Eventually giving way to her getting back with him and leaving Subhash for the sake of Joshua. Even though Subhash was aware of the short-lived nature of their relationship he is distraught when she leaves him.
