The Ghostwriter
The Ghostwriter is never given a name. She is working on a memoir for a man named Victor who is suffering from survivor's guilt. Her identity is almost wordplay because not only is she a ghostwriter in the traditional sense - writing a book that another will pass off as their own - but she is a writer who is visited by ghosts. One of these is her older brother who saved her life when they were escaping Vietnam by boat. It is not clear whether or not she had believed in ghosts prior to her brother appearing before her but by the end of the story she is convinced that they are our spirit guides and she is comfortable discussing the visitation with both her mother and her client, Victor.
Victor
Victor has hired the Ghostwriter to pen his memoir. He is suffering from survivor's guilt and has been in the depths of depression in his life, but he confides in the Ghostwriter that his belief in, and visits from, ghosts, have enabled him to get through the darkest days of his life.
The Ghostwriter's Mother
The Ghostwriter's mother loves her daughter but misses her son and derives pleasure from the company of ghosts, so much so that when she discusses people she used to know, but who have passed away, she talks more about her communication with their ghosts than she does about the things she did with them when they were living. She wants her son to take the clothes of the living with him when he visits her daughter but he will not, because ghosts do not wear the clothes that are intended for the living. This shows that she is still thinking like his mother even though he has been dead for many years, and wants to provide him with the things that he needs.
The Ghostwriter's Brother
A ghost, the Ghostwriter's brother saved her life when they were younger and escaping Vietnam by boat. It was his idea to disguise her as a boy when pirates boarded the boat so that she would not be kidnapped by them. He also defended her when her disguise was questioned by stabbing the pirate paying her too much attention, which ultimately led to his death. After several visits with his sister he does not come back to this realm again because he has made his peace with the world.
Liem
Liem is eighteen years old and has just arrived in California from Vietnam. As a refugee he is housed with host families. His family consists of two men in a gay domestic partnership. Of all the things that are new to Liem in his new country, this is by far the most difficult for him to deal with and accept. As he learns new things about his new country he also learns more about himself and one of the key revelations is that he is gay. He falls in love with one of his hosts, Marcus, and has his first sexual encounter with a man. His entire view of the world and of what is right changes.
Parrish Coyne
Although Parrish is Liem's official sponsor, he is peripheral to the story in that it is in his absence that the key action of the plot occurs. Parrish is a great guy in a solid relationship with his gay partner Marcus. He wants to extend his home to help a refugee and that is why Liem comes to live with him. He is completely comfortable with his sexuality; however, the relationship between Liem and Marcus develops in his absence when he is traveling for work.
Marcus Chan
Marcus is Parrish Coyne's lover and is therefore one of the hosts that has offered hospitality to Liem when he arrives in California. Initially a more remote presence in Liem's new life, he and the young man develop a friendship that becomes something more sexual in the absence of his partner Parrish. Marcus does not believe in declarations of love because to him words mean nothing and are superficial. Anyone can say I love you. He believes that actions actually demonstrate far more sincerity than words do.
Un-Named Boy
The unnamed protagonist of story WarYears works in his parents' convenience store and in this way at least is somewhat of a stereotype. He is a typical teen kid and uses his allowance for comic books and games. When he is given money he cannot think of anything else to spend it on. He is a good kid who leads a life that is far more blessed than his teen counterparts in Vietnam during his parent's time there.
Boy's Mother
The boy's mother is pragmatic and can see through a scam at a hundred paces. She does not believe that she can effect change in Vietnam from her new home in California. She therefore does not want to give money to a fund that she does not know who is in charge of administering. She is suspicious by nature. The break in at the family home is thwarted largely because of precautionary security measures she has taken which speak to her natural suspicion of people and the world around her. Initially she believes Mrs Hoa to be a scammer and she is contrite when she realizes this might not be the case.
Boy's Father
The boy's father is not the rule-maker in the household; that role belongs to his wife, but his gentle observations have a quiet power. He is worried about his wife's refusal to donate money to Mrs Hoa. He realizes that this refusal can be spun in order to make them look like communist sympathizers, and in turn will lead to a downturn in their business. He is also a very pragmatic man. He is persuasive and a peace maker by nature, bridging the gap between his wife and Mrs Hoa with compromise. He is also an example of how the fear of being seen as a communist can change one's behavior.
Mrs Hoa
Mrs Hoa is a relentless woman whose priority in life is collecting donations to fight communism in Vietnam. She believes that it is possible for refugees to make a change in their birth country because she has to believe it. Without the hope of making a difference the deaths of her husband and son in the war will be futile and in vain. She is very proud of their participation in the war and displays their uniforms in her house. This is her way of keeping them alive.
Arthur Arellano
Arthur is one of the few characters in the collection of stories that is not of Vietnamese descent; he is a Mexican American of middle age and sometimes not very good health. He was recently in liver failure and was dying until a liver donor was found. He finds out the identity of his donor by accident and wants to find him. When he finds whom he believes to be the donor's son he feels obligated to help them in any way he can which is this case is to agree to storing knock-off goods behind his house. When he discovers that the man he has been helping is not related to the donor at all he is furious, both at the deception and also because he feels like a fool and this makes him very angry. Unfortunately he has been far too forthcoming with personal details in his dealings with the bogus relative and is in no position to demand anything, since he has let slip that most of the people who work at his landscaping company are illegal immigrants who are not legally allowed to work in America. He is trapped into continuing to store illegal counterfeit goods because of these disclosures.
Arthur has a horrible relationship with his wife who is perpetually angry with him because of his addiction to gambling.
Louis Vu
Louis is a con man which should not come as a surprise to Arthur because he is also a purveyor of counterfeit goods, generally not a glowing indictment of a person's character. He is also an opportunist, taking advantage of having the same last name as a man who has graciously donated his organs so that someone else can live.
Minh Vu
Minh Vu is the actual relative of the man whose donated liver went to Arthur. He is honest and genuine.
Mrs Khanh
Mrs Khanh is a librarian who retires during the course of the story so that she can spend more time with her husband who has Alzheimers. She finds herself falling more in love with him all over again when they spend more time together, again love flourishing through their mutual love of books. She is beginning to realize that the things she once considered important are trivial. Only her love for her husband matters. Both she and her husband consider the other completely insane.
Carver
Carver is a retired serviceman who fought in Vietnam. He did not think much of the country then and nothing has happened that has changed his opinion. If anything, he has come to actively dislike the country because his daughter has chosen to live there. He has made the decision to dislike her boyfriend also because he is Vietnamese, and because he considers people from Vietnam to be overly preoccupied with making war on each other. He also feels rejected by his daughter although he does not ever really verbalize that. At the end of the story he realizes that she is as devoted to him as he to her, their issue is not that they cannot love each other but that they do not know how to communicate.
Claire Carver
Claire is an American woman of African American and Vietnamese descent, but she feels that her soul is Vietnamese. She loves the country and is frustrated that her father cannot understand or respect her choice to live there. Despite communication difficulties she loves her father and finds it easier to tell him so through her actions than through her words. They seem to fight when they use words to communicate. This is ironic since she is a language teacher.
Thomas
Thomas lives with his father now that his mother has died. He is a caring, family man but he has lost the woman he loves because he is scared to be a parent. He visits with his ex wife and finds that she is pregnant by another man. However, he is prepared to act as the father to the child if only she would take him back again. He is surprisingly non-judgemental of his father's affair that has lasted a long time.
Mimi
Mimi used to be Thomas' father's mistress but has been promoted to the role of girlfriend now that his wife has died. She once asked her lover if he wouldn't just like to be anyone else but himself. This probably speaks more to her feelings about her own life than to her judgements about his.
Sam
Sam is Thomas' ex-wife, and she is none to pleased to see him when he pays her a surprise visit. Although it is unspoken there seems to be a palpable history of dislike between her and her former father in law. Sam is pregnant and also seems to have become pregnant as a result of an experience in Vietnam, where she visited during the summer. Traveling seems to have expanded her horizons. It is not clear whether or not she is going to take Thomas back at the end of the story.
Phuong Ly
Phuong lives in Vietnam with her parents and two brothers. When she meets her American half sister for the first time she is struck that this is the person she most wants to be. Phuong is not particularly strong or independent but wants to be both and identifies Vivien as her role model. Naturally when Vivien turns out to be far different than the picture she has painted of herself, Phuong is furious, and hates her half sister both for refusing to help her get to America and for being someone other than herself. She wants very much for Vivien to be exactly what is says on the can, but she is the opposite and Phuong is hurt and angry about this, wanting nothing more to do with her.
Vivien
Vivien is the first born daughter of Mr Ly. She was given the same name as his second daughter, and is intrigued to know why he named two daughters the same. It was actually a purposeful decision designed to pique her interest enough to make her want to visit with him. Vivien has presented herself as a successful, financially comfortable medical professional but admits to Phuong that this is not entirely the case; actually she is a receptionist, and she just got fired. The money she has been spending is the last dollars of her severance pay. She refuses to sponsor Phuong to come to America because she cannot even be financially responsible for herself, let alone for another person. Once she returns home to Chicago she maintains the pretense of her successful professional life which angers her sister and leads to the ending of their burgeoning sibling relationship.
