Eliza is the main character of the short story “Between the Shadow and the Soul.” While the story is written from the third-person point of view, this narrator’s access is largely limited to Eliza’s consciousness, offering access to her interior world while enacting her estrangement from herself.

At the start of the short story, Eliza has recently turned 50 and decided to retire from her job at the post office. Initially, Eliza looks forward to “the lazy expanse of days” (22), but almost immediately after she leaves her job, she is overcome by despair and immobilizing purposelessness. Since “she had never in her life had a day of rest” (23), Eliza does not know how to conduct her life now that her job is over and she and her husband Willie are finished renovating their old home. Her dip into despair is a manifestation of her identity crisis: Eliza does not know who she is when she isn’t taking care of someone or something.

Eliza is a round, dynamic character. Eliza came from a difficult background and had to work hard and make sacrifices throughout her early life. With her husband Willie, she feels seen, loved, and accepted—but this relationship also requires Eliza to play the role of the caretaker, too. Having known Willie for many years, Eliza has always recognized Willie’s need for love in light of his abusive childhood. At the same time, she often feels she is not good enough for Willie, who is younger and more attractive than she; furthermore, for years the town rejected her for getting involved with Willie and ruining his chances at a more accomplished life.

Eliza rediscovers herself by taking a gardening class, where she develops a crush on her instructor, Bet. The crush and the gardening work revive her sense of wonder and excitement for life. However, she realizes at the end of the story that she must tamp down her longing for freedom and exploration and remain loyal to Willie. Her storyline is emblematic of the theme of Care as an Act of Love and an Emotional Burden.

Buddy and Joanie are the main characters of the short story “To Sunland.” After their mother dies, Joanie decides to bring her brother Buddy to a facility called Sunland so she can pursue a college degree. Joanie genuinely loves Buddy (who has special needs and an unspecified brain atypicality), but she is reluctant to give up her life to take care of him. Throughout the story, she wrestles with this internal conflict, ultimately deciding to leave Buddy behind as planned. Joanie is an outspoken, self-possessed character, willing to rebel against social and familial expectations to make her own path.

Buddy is a lovable, gentle character whose experience is defined by his grief over his mother’s passing. He loves Joanie, but is not accustomed to being with her. He also does not fully comprehend where they are going or why, despite Joanie’s attempts to explain. Buddy is an innocent and also is not fully autonomous due to his condition—he is not free to make decisions for himself and is left in Joanie’s hands. His character thus complicates Joanie’s path to freedom, although he is depicted as accepting of his new surroundings at the story’s end.

Sara Brawler is the main character of the short story “Brawler.” She is a teenager who lives with her mother and practices diving in her spare time. In the story’s opening scenes, the narrator depicts Sara competing at the pool—images which suggest her innate physical and emotional strength and her bold spirit. These images contrast with the subsequent scenes of Sara at home alone with her mom, who is ailing on the couch in their messy house. 

Sara’s mom has an unspecified mental illness that precludes her from trusting others or eating. She is paranoid about drinking water or eating food and consumes only liquor and the occasional medication. Sara is left to take care of her, with her life defined by her mother’s needs. Sara’s character has agency, but cannot exercise it because of her moral obligation to her mom. Her story reiterates the theme of Care as an Act of Love and an Emotional Burden.

Nic and Birdie are the primary characters of the story “Birdie.” Nic—as well as her and Birdie’s mutual friends Melodie and Sammie—reunite at the start of the story to say goodbye to Birdie, who is sick with cancer.

Although Nic is glad to see Birdie, whom she considers her best friend, she struggles to engage throughout their reunion. She offers up stories to the friends, but feels judged and rejected despite her efforts at authenticity. Old wounds surface throughout the visit, reawakening Nic’s adolescent insecurities. She finds herself shutting down while visiting Birdie at the hospital, keeping her memories to herself and holing up alone at the hotel afterwards. Her decision to avoid Melodie and Sammie—and to eavesdrop on them at the hotel restaurant—conveys her distrust of her friends and struggle to reconcile who she was to the friends in the past and how she sees herself in the present.

Birdie and Nic’s last interaction before Nic’s departure and Birdie’s death offers insight into both women’s childhood pasts and their relationship. Unlike Melodie and Sammie, Birdie shows Nic kindness, understanding, and grace. At the same time, Birdie is guilty of wounding Nic years prior. The two shared intimate, sexually explorative interactions as children. Ashamed of her own feelings and afraid of Nic’s feelings for her, Birdie wrote Nic’s parents a letter—revealing Nic’s greatest secret and resulting in protracted abuse from her father. Nic swears she forgives Birdie, but after her death she realizes that she can’t forgive every version of her late friend. These dynamics present Birdie as a morally ambiguous character.

Chip is the main character of “What’s the Time, Mr. Wolf?” The story traces his life from his childhood through his death. Chip is a member of a wealthy and powerful banking family. From a young age, he feels that “Everything had been decided for him long before he was born” (147). Due to this belief, Chip exercises almost no agency throughout the short story. He does not make choices about how to spend his time, where to go to school, how to feel about his extended family, where to work, and even where to live. For years, Chip coasts along, waiting for things to happen or to be given to him. He relies on his grandparents to intervene and get him out of trouble, clearing the path for him. He relies on his sister to rush to his side to comfort him or put him back on his feet when he makes a mistake or meets any sort of conflict.

After losing his job at his uncle and grandfather’s banking firm, Chip gets the chance to start over. His sister Libby brings him to their grandparents’ vacant estate and urges him to get sober and remake himself. Over the course of several months, Chip discovers that he enjoys carpentry and starts redoing the family boathouse. He also works on the caretaker’s cottage where he is staying. Meanwhile, he pursues a relationship with a local woman named Pearl Spang, whom he used to know and deride.

Over time, however, he becomes increasingly attached to her despite her insistence that she does not want a relationship with him. She ultimately ends their relationship when she realizes Chip is getting too attached—leading Chip to impulsive, dangerous behavior which unnerves Pearl. Pearl’s protective brothers ultimately break into the cottage and threaten him. Not long later, Chip dies by suicide not far from Pearl’s house when he realizes that she is happy without him.

Chip’s story and character arc underscore the hazards of wealth and privilege. Chip navigates the world as if it belongs to him, feeling no responsibility to others and no motivation to chase or even develop his own dreams. Without desire, work, or responsibility, Chip is unable to survive.

The main character of “Under the Wave” is an unnamed woman referred to as either “the woman” or “the mother.” At the start of the short story, the woman loses her husband and young son in a tsunami while on vacation. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, she finds herself at a refugee camp where she meets a little girl. 

Overcome by grief over her own son’s death, the woman decides to leave the camp with the girl. She takes her back to her home city and begins to treat her like her late son: Shaving her head, calling her by her son’s name, and enrolling her in school using her son’s birth certificate and documents. The narrator asserts that the woman has always been private, which is why she does not have to explain what happened to her on vacation or how her life has changed since to anyone in her life. At the end of the story, the child’s biological mother appears, but the child insists she belongs to the woman instead.

The woman’s story underscores the intense effects of grief and loss on the psyche, while exploring the theme of Discovering Grace in a Violent World. Touched by violence, the woman finds grace in her relationship with the child (despite her overt crime); the child in turn shows her grace by regarding her as her mother.

Aura is the main character of the story “Such Small Islands.” At the story’s start, Aura is devastated when her mother decides to leave home for the summer, putting her half-sister Gus in charge. However, Aura quickly falls in love with Gus and becomes jealous when Gus starts seeing the neighbor boy, Oz.

Aura’s desire to hurt Gus at the story’s end is a manifestation of her hurt and pain. She feels abandoned by all of the adults in her life—beginning with her mother. Gus offers her a semblance of this maternal love, but ends up disappointing her, too. Aura tries to punish her by hiding in the rocks and causing panic.