In “Men and Women,” the unnamed first-person narrator is the protagonist. She lives in the country with her parents and brother. Throughout the majority of the short story, the narrator operates in accordance with the gender role prescribed to her. She largely understands this role by watching her mother interact with her father. Through observation, the narrator understands that she is to be nurturing, subservient, quiet, and obedient. When her mother goes to claim her prize at the dance, the narrator witnesses a new side of her mother—which narratively seems inspired by the narrator’s impulsive act of self-empowerment when she butts in on her father’s dance with another woman. Like her mother, the narrator wants to be self-empowered but often does not know how to in a world that limits her freedoms.

The au pair is the main character in the story “Where the Water’s Deepest.” She is a young woman working for a well-off couple, primarily tasked with caring for their young son. From context clues, the reader can infer that the au pair has taken and retained the job to both support herself and to send money to her family back home. Descriptions of the narrator’s recurring nightmare and repeated references to falling or death by suicide imply that the au pair feels trapped, alone, and depressed. She deeply cares for the young boy, but feels imprisoned by her circumstances and powerless to claim her agency. The scene of her catching the boy, calling him “my baby” (42), and carrying him back up to the house “to his mama” (42) suggests that the au pair wants a family of her own but is stuck within a world where she has no claim over anything—even her own experience or right to love the boy.

Cordelia is the main character of “Love in the Tall Grass.” She is a single woman who lives on a farm, where she raises and sells apples. She meets the doctor, with whom she has an affair, through her days selling the fruit at her farmstand. Cordelia readily engages in this affair because it initially feels low stakes. She and the doctor get to spend time together when he is available, and to revel in the beauty of the outdoors and enjoyment of each other’s bodies without the restrictions of a committed relationship. Over time, however, Cordelia falls in love with the man but finds herself readily discarded. She discovers that what she now wants—for the doctor to leave his wife and be with her—is an impossibility. She remains the disposable, aging spinster while she waits to reunite with the doctor. In the end, after 10 years of waiting, Cordelia’s fate is sealed as their planned meeting is spoiled by the arrival of the doctor’s wife.

Ellen is the main character and first-person narrator of the short story “Storms.” She is a young girl who lives with her mother, father, and father’s workmen on a homestead. Initially, Ellen’s story and character are defined by her relationship with and observations of her mother. She is fascinated that her mom has prophetic dreams and hopes that someday she might experience the same. Over time, however, she discovers this seeming magical power is in fact a sign of her mother’s tenuous mental health. She witnesses her mother’s mental health crisis and involuntary institutionalization in the wake of her grandmother’s death, curious as to how her mother’s life and story relates to who she is and will become.

Roslin is the main character of the short story “Ride If You Dare.” She is a woman in her forties who has recently discovered that she is in a loveless marriage. To deal with her disappointment, she answers an ad in the personals and ventures out on an impromptu adventure with her new could-be lover Guthrie. When Roslin first married her husband, she thought “he was like Robert De Niro or Sean Penn, waters that run deep” and spent the next 10 years “trying to get into that place where he lived” (75). No matter what she did to love, invest in, or serve her husband, he would not open himself to her or show her love. Roslin thus tries to liberate herself and reclaim her independence via her time with Guthrie. Their experience at the carnival is a metaphor for taking risks and rebelling against convention.

The protagonist of “The Singing Cashier” is a young girl, who also narrates the story. She lives in Gloucester with her older sister Cora, who does her best to provide for them. The sisters lost their mother when they were children, and their father died in the recent past. Although still young, the narrator has dropped out of school. “Other girls my age are in school, wearing scratchy, plaid uniforms and swotting over O levels,” but the narrator “had enough of that” (86). Initially, she thinks it’s better to spend her time at home, helping her sister and tending to the house. Over time, however, she begins to long for the life her peers have. She is caught under the burdens of adulthood while still living the fears of girlhood.

In the story “Burns,” Robin is the second wife of the father character. The father takes his new wife and his three children from his first marriage to their old summer house in hopes of confronting their fraught familial past once and for all. Throughout the story, the father laments this decision, groaning to Robin about how much he hates his ex-wife and how destructive her lingering presence in the house is. Robin is depicted as being the opposite of the man’s first wife, and presents herself as a largely calm, self-composed individual. She comforts and reassures the husband when he is upset, invests in the children, makes suggestions about the house, and even gamely participates in the cockroach killing spree at the story’s end.

The first-person narrator and main character of “Quare Name for a Boy” is a young woman who has recently discovered she is pregnant. She met a man at a Christmas party and he took her home to his mother’s house afterward; they spent the subsequent “week between Christmas and the new year” having sex, sitting by the fire, and eating takeout (106). Now that a pregnancy has resulted from this one seemingly blissful week, the narrator decides to confront her fate. She travels home—where she met the man—and tells him that she is pregnant with his child. During the interaction, she decides that she will keep the baby but will not ask the man to support her or the child. She does not want to try to control him and she does not want to give up her freedom. She is a fierce, independent, and self-assured character, eager to take control of her fate and to break generational patterns.

Betty and Louisa are the primary characters of the short story “Sisters.” Betty is the younger, more dour and less conventionally attractive sister, while Louisa is the lively, older and charming sister. Their father “had always favored Louisa. She had given him admiration, whereas Betty only fed and clothed and cared for him” (112). Their mother also used to remark on the girls’ marked differences, which Betty is preoccupied with throughout her sister’s visit. While Louisa spends her time grooming and manicuring herself, Betty has dull brown hair, “man’s hands and the age showing so plainly on her face. ‘Chalk and cheese’ was the phrase their mother used” (117). Betty has thus been conditioned to see herself as inferior to Louisa, because she does not have her sister’s conventional good looks or grace. Whereas Louisa ventures off to England to marry a salesman, Betty is consigned to a life at home tending the remote farmstead and caring for their father until he dies. In the narrative present, Betty fights for the independence she’s learned to claim, standing up to her sister when Louisa tries to take advantage of her generosity and learned subservience. While Louisa represents a more stereotypical version of feminine beauty, docility, and fragility, Betty represents a more weathered and experienced version of feminine strength.

Hanson and Greer are the primary characters of the story “The Scent of Winter.” Hanson is a lawyer who lives not from Greer, a local man and friend. Greer confides in Hanson after a violent incident occurs at his home, and Hanson becomes invested in his story. A Black man allegedly broke into Greer’s home and raped his wife. Greer took justice into his own hands, apprehended the man, and locked him in his barn. Hanson urges Greer to seek another resolution, but also realizes that he might do the same if he were in the same position. These characters offer insight into stereotypical notions of masculinity, where men are expected to assert their power by protecting women using violence.

The main character of the story “The Burning Palms” is a young, unnamed boy. He lives with his mother, Mammy, and his father. The boy also has a close relationship with his grandmother, Gran, and enjoys spending time with her. Although her house is dingy and gloomy, the boy always prefers to be here than at home—where his father is often drinking, gambling, or fighting with his mother. He also likes helping his grandmother, whether he is fetching water or hanging wallpaper. The boy is robbed of his innocence, however, when he stalls leaving Gran’s house with his mother one night, and Mammy is killed when a lorry drives off the road and rams through the house. The boy feels responsible for his mother’s death thereafter, and is thus thrust into adulthood via this tragedy.

Frank Corso is the main character of the short story “Passport Soup.” He is married to an unnamed woman, with whom he has one child, Elizabeth Corso. Not long prior to the story’s start, Elizabeth disappeared under Frank’s watch one evening. In the narrative present, Frank still cannot make sense of what happened to his nine-year-old daughter. He was out in the back field behind their house with her when suddenly she was gone. The police investigated, but found nothing, leaving Frank reeling in the narrative present. Throughout the story, Frank tries to reconcile his confusion over Elizabeth’s disappearance with his grief and his sense of failure as a father and a husband.

An unnamed young man is the main character of “Close to the Water’s Edge.” This character is turning 19 years old at the story’s start. Although out on his own and attending Harvard University, the young man is unsure of himself. He is often caught up in thoughts of his late grandmother Marcie and struggles to assert himself in his conversations with his mother and her millionaire husband, Richard. The boy’s hesitance is a symptom of his indecision, passivity, and fear. He understands the entrapment his grandmother and mother have faced but does not know how to act on their behalf.

Jay is the first-person narrator and main character of “You Can’t Be Too Careful.” Jay tells the story of his encounters with Butch, a local street musician who turns out to be a murderer. After spending time with Butch on two occasions, Jay gets a call from him one night, asking him to go fishing. Jay agrees, and the two venture out on Jay’s boat in the dark. Jay soon discovers that Butch just murdered his wife and is in fact hiding from the police out on the water. In retrospect, Jay wonders if he should have tried to kill Butch when he had the chance. Ultimately, Butch tied Jay up, dressing him in his bloody shirt and stealing his car keys and boat. Jay has tried to tell the police what happened but no one will believe him. Jay deems Butch one of the smartest people on earth, because he has so easily gotten away with such a crime.