Pauline is the mother of the Bright family, in her mid-thirties at the start of the novel. Grieving the recent loss of her infant son, she moves with her husband and daughters to the city, where she begins assisting in the funeral home's embalming room. She views death not as an enemy but as a spectral companion, bringing a profound sense of compassion and reverence to her family and her work.

The eldest Bright daughter, fifteen years old at the start of the story. Evelyn is highly analytical and logical, finding comfort in science and definitive answers. Inspired by medical textbooks, she sets her sights on becoming a doctor of psychiatry to understand and heal invisible wounds.

The twelve-year-old middle Bright daughter, characterized by her sensitive and hopeful personality. Maggie longs to fix broken things, an urge that draws her to work in the embalming room to give grieving families closure. She forms an intense, enduring attachment to the boy across the street and relies on his letters as a lifeline.

The youngest Bright daughter, six years old at the novel's opening. Willa is imaginative, occasionally self-centered, and deeply sensitive to changes in her environment. She later channels her complicated feelings into music, adopting a glamorous stage persona to sing in underground speakeasies.

The steady, reliable patriarch of the Bright family. He relocates his wife and daughters to take over his uncle's funeral business, providing a practical form of masculine caregiving. Motivated by a sense of duty, he volunteers for the medical corps during the war.

An infant discovered by Maggie while she delivers food baskets in an immigrant neighborhood. Brought back to the funeral parlor, he becomes a beloved fixture in the Bright household. His presence provides the grieving family with a renewed sense of hope and a daily reason to carry on.

A twenty-one-year-old accountant who lives across the street from the Brights. Feeling a moral obligation to stop the spread of evil, he enlists in the Army. He returns from the war fundamentally altered, struggling with invisible trauma, and uses letters from home to anchor himself to reality.

Thomas's seventy-two-year-old uncle who runs the Bright Funeral Home. Having no children of his own, he hopes to pass the business to his nephew. He works to the point of exhaustion during the pandemic to accommodate the staggering number of victims.

A fifteen-year-old girl working as a maid who is admitted to the psychiatric facility. She carries a profound, silent guilt over a family tragedy during the influenza outbreak, possessing a small wooden pencil box filled with her only remaining personal artifacts.

A devoted husband who brings his young wife to the psychiatric facility when her early-onset dementia becomes too difficult to manage alone. His clear dedication to his spouse deeply affects Evelyn.

The fifteen-year-old neighbor of the Brights. He has a sweet, friendly disposition, though his cognitive abilities are slower than his chronological age. He forms a fast friendship with Maggie over a shared book.

The mother of Jamie and Charlie. She carries constant anxiety regarding her eldest son's enlistment and strictly isolates her youngest son during the pandemic out of fear.

A young man courting Maggie years after the war. He plans to take a job in Manhattan and offers Maggie the prospect of a conventional, stable future away from the funeral home.

A young woman only a few years older than Evelyn who suffers from dementia. Her condition requires specialized care at the asylum, serving as a sobering reminder to the staff of the mind's limitations.

The infant son of Thomas and Pauline who died of heart failure prior to the events of the novel. His absence casts a long shadow over the Bright family, fundamentally altering how each member views the world.

A senior physician at Fairview Asylum. He guides Evelyn through her medical residency and relies heavily on her competence and dedication to the patients.

The stepfather of Ursula. Following the death of his wife and the loss of his son during the influenza outbreak, his grief creates a massive rift in his remaining family.

The mother of Cal Novak. She views her step-granddaughter with bitterness following the family's tragedies and refuses to finance her stay at the asylum.

A handsome student at the academy in Philadelphia. He befriends Evelyn, providing her with a fleeting sense of youthful romance before the pandemic hits the city.

A young girl of German descent who lives near the Brights. She owns a small white dog and serves as a neighborhood playmate for Willa.

Pauline's mother who remains in rural Pennsylvania. Her fear of the spreading illness causes her to discourage her daughter from visiting, creating lasting resentment from Thomas.