Florens is a sixteen-year-old enslaved girl working on the Vaark farm in rural New York. A local reverend secretly taught her to read and write, skills she uses to document her narrative. Having been separated from her mother at a young age, she carries deep psychological wounds and a terrifying fear of abandonment. This trauma leaves her desperate for affection and fiercely eager to please those around her.

Jacob is a farmer and trader who lives in rural New York. Orphaned at a young age, he possesses a contradictory moral code that guides his business dealings. He openly criticizes the overt cruelty of traditional southern plantation owners while simultaneously profiting from the global slave trade to finance his grand new house. He actively seeks out orphans and outcasts, gathering an unconventional household.

Minha Mãe is an enslaved woman living on the cruel D'Ortega tobacco plantation. Having survived the horrors of the Middle Passage and systemic abuse in the colonies, she possesses a sharp understanding of the immediate dangers facing her family. Her difficult decisions shape the entire trajectory of her daughter's life.

Rebekka is Jacob's wife, brought to America from England through a transactional marriage arrangement. Pragmatic and hardworking, she adapts to the harsh wilderness and forms an unconventional working bond with the enslaved women on the property. She carries severe grief after losing all of her children to early childhood deaths.

Lina is an Indigenous woman whose tribe was decimated by disease before she was forced into assimilation by Presbyterians. As Jacob's first purchase, she functions as the practical backbone of the Vaark household. She uses her profound knowledge of the natural world to sustain the farm and acts as a fiercely protective guardian to the younger women.

Sorrow is a young woman who survived a devastating shipwreck before being taken in by Jacob. The trauma of the disaster left her deeply isolated, prompting her to rely entirely on an imaginary friend for comfort. She wanders the farm constantly, avoiding work and ignoring the frustrations of the other women.

The Blacksmith is a free Black man who travels the region trading his highly specialized metalworking and medicinal skills. His legal freedom grants him an unusual level of autonomy and confidence in colonial America. He approaches relationships with strict boundaries and expects others to maintain their own independence.

Willard is a white indentured servant working on a neighboring property. His master continuously and unfairly extends his seven-year contract, forcing him to take on odd jobs at the Vaark farm to earn extra money. He maintains a quiet hope of eventually securing enough funds to build an independent life.

Scully is a young indentured servant whose own parents sold him into servitude. Having experienced severe betrayal in his past, he possesses a deep emotional intelligence that allows him to recognize the trauma driving the people around him. He quietly saves his wages to eventually purchase his freedom.

Widow Ealing is a local woman living in a village currently consumed by religious hysteria. While she initially demonstrates basic hospitality to a traveler, her primary allegiance lies with her community's paranoid rules. She participates in cruel, destructive systems to protect herself from being targeted by her neighbors.

Jane is Widow Ealing's daughter, subjected to physical abuse to satisfy her village's rampant supernatural paranoia. Despite her precarious position and the visible injuries inflicted by her mother, she maintains a subversive independence and actively mocks the hysteria surrounding her.

Malaik is a young orphan boy temporarily living under the Blacksmith's protection until a magistrate can determine his future. Having lost his entire family, he is fiercely possessive of his new guardian and highly suspicious of anyone who might threaten his only source of security.

D'Ortega is a wealthy but deeply indebted Roman Catholic plantation owner in Virginia. He lives an ostentatious lifestyle financed entirely by the slave trade, facing financial ruin only after losing a cargo of enslaved people at sea. He embodies the overt, arrogant cruelty of the southern plantation system.

Twin is an imaginary companion who manifests as an identical girl to provide comfort to a deeply traumatized survivor. Acting as an internal coping mechanism, she frequently encourages isolation and distrust, warning against forming attachments with anyone else on the farm.