Monife’s life and tragic death cast a long shadow over the narrative, making her a haunting presence felt most acutely by her niece, Eniiyi. Monife is a vibrant, charismatic, and rebellious young woman who is also deeply vulnerable and susceptible to periods of severe depression. Her story is a powerful illustration of The Self-Fulfilling Nature of Negative Beliefs; her deep-seated belief in her doomed romantic fate shapes her actions and ultimately ensures its fulfillment. Monife’s statement to a skeptical young Ebun, “but what if the curse believes in you?” (23), encapsulates a desperate intensity, as if Monife is trying to outrun a destiny she feels is inescapable.

Her relationship with Kalu becomes the central focus of her life and her primary battleground against the curse. In her pursuit of him, Monife is both bold and insecure. She aggressively makes the first move, subverting traditional gender roles, yet her actions are underpinned by a desperate need to “lock him down” (142) as a defense against the predicted failure. This insecurity ultimately leads to her breakup with Kalu. Monife’s inability to cope with the loss, which she views as the curse’s inevitable victory, culminates in her death by suicide, drowning at Elegushi beach, an act that becomes a recurring, traumatic motif throughout the novel.

Though she dies before the main narrative begins, Monife functions as a key psychological force. The family’s belief that Eniiyi is her reincarnation traps Monife’s spirit within the Falodun house, preventing her from being laid to rest and forcing Eniiyi to live in her shadow. Monife represents the unresolved trauma of the past that must be confronted before the next generation can achieve true freedom.

Ebun, Kemi’s daughter and Eniiyi’s mother, serves as a lens through which the concepts of generational trauma and flawed motherhood are explored. Her primary motivation is to protect her daughter from the family curse, but her methods are born from her own deep-seated fear and guilt. Unlike her flamboyant mother, Kemi, or her spiritualist aunt, Bunmi, Ebun’s response to the curse is one of stoic avoidance and control. Her decision to raise Eniiyi without a father is a radical attempt to shield her from the pain of male abandonment that has plagued the Falodun women. However, this act of protection becomes a source of secrecy and distance, creating a new form of emotional isolation for her daughter.

Bunmi, known to Eniiyi as Grandma West, is Monife’s mother and a primary catalyst for the perpetuation of the family curse. She is emblematic of a life derailed by grief. After her husband abandons her in London, she returns to the Falodun house a broken woman, convinced that her fate is sealed by the generational curse. She becomes a devotee of spiritualists like Mama G, spending her meager income on herbs and rituals in a desperate, futile attempt to reclaim her husband.

After Monife’s suicide, Bunmi’s grief transforms into a powerful obsession with reincarnation. She sees Eniiyi not as a niece but as the return of her lost daughter, insisting on calling her “Motitunde,” which means “I have come again” (29). By projecting Monife’s identity onto Eniiyi, Bunmi is unable to properly mourn her child and simultaneously fuels Eniiyi’s profound identity crisis. Her eventual decline into dementia is symbolic; as her memory fades and fractures, she becomes even more fixated on Monife, trapping both herself and Eniiyi in a distorted past.

The character of Kemi, Eniiyi’s grandmother and Ebun’s mother explores the theme of redefining female agency in a patriarchal society. Having been through three failed marriages, she eschews the ideal of romantic love and instead pursues relationships with wealthy men as a transactional means of securing financial stability for the household. She is flamboyant, witty, and unapologetic about using her charms to her advantage, viewing romance as a tool rather than an emotional vulnerability.

Despite her seemingly carefree attitude, Kemi’s choices reveal the limited options available to women in her society. Her strategy is one of adaptation rather than true liberation, as her life remains dependent on male validation and wealth. Her lifestyle creates an unstable environment for her daughter, Ebun, and her advice often reinforces patriarchal norms, such as when she pushes Ebun to ask Eniiyi’s father for money or worries about Eniiyi’s marriage prospects. Kemi represents a form of survival that is clever and resilient but ultimately constrained by the very system she manipulates.

Kalu, known affectionately by Monife as “Golden Boy,” is the object of her intense love and the unintentional catalyst for her tragic demise. He is portrayed as a genuinely kind, talented, and good-natured young man, which makes his ultimate failure to stand by Monife all the more devastating. He represents the ideal partner, the one who could seemingly break the Falodun curse. However, his character demonstrates that good intentions are not enough in the face of deep-seated familial and societal pressures.

His fatal flaw is his inability to assert himself, particularly against his mother’s relentless campaign to pair him with Amara. His weakness illustrates how societal expectations and parental authority can overpower personal conviction. His reappearance decades later as Zubby’s father cements the theme of the struggle for independent selfhood within families, forcing a confrontation with the past. As an older man, he is filled with regret, acknowledging the disservice he did to Monife and admitting he should have fought for their love, making him a tragic figure in his own right.

Tolu is Monife’s brother and serves as a figure of escape and suppressed grief. Traumatized by his father’s abandonment and his sister’s death by suicide, Tolu distances himself from the oppressive atmosphere of the Falodun household as soon as he is able. For years, he harbors a silent, simmering resentment toward his cousin, Ebun, whom he blames for Monife’s death. This is evident in his coldness at Monife’s funeral and his discomfort around Eniiyi, whose resemblance to his sister is a painful reminder of his loss.

However, Tolu undergoes significant development, becoming the unlikely keeper of the family’s most crucial secrets. His confession near the end of the novel is a moment of catharsis for himself and the other characters. He reveals Ebun’s role in the pregnancy termination and, most critically, admits to deleting Kalu’s final, conciliatory message to Monife. This revelation reframes Monife’s death, shifting some of the perceived blame and allowing Ebun a measure of peace. As Tolu finally lets go of his resentment and commits to telling the truth, he to helps break the cycle of silence that has perpetuated the family’s trauma. This crucial shift deconstructs the self-fulfilling nature of negative beliefs.

Osagie, who is initially known to Monife and her friends as Oba, is Eniiyi’s biological father. His patient, persistent love is inherent in all of his interactions, and he represents a potential end to the cycle of abandonment that defines the Falodun curse. When he discovers that Eniiyi is his daughter, this moment provides a critical turning point for both Eniiyi and Ebun. For Eniiyi, he offers a tangible link to an identity that transcends the curse and the shadow of Monife. Their shared genetic trait of vitiligo also serves as a scientific counterpoint to the family’s supernatural beliefs in reincarnation. For Ebun, Osagie’s steadfastness challenges her belief that all men will inevitably leave. Her eventual acceptance of his proposal signifies a monumental step toward healing, suggesting that a healthy, lasting relationship is possible for her.

Zubby is Eniiyi’s love interest and, in a crucial twist, the son of Kalu “Golden Boy” Kenosi. He functions as the catalyst that forces the past and present to collide. His near-drowning at Elegushi beach, the same place Monife died, and his rescue by Eniiyi, symbolically reverses the tragedy of the previous generation. His relationship with Eniiyi mirrors his father’s relationship with Monife, creating a sense of fated repetition that Eniiyi must fight against. However, Zubby is presented as a more decisive and resolute character than his father. Faced with his mother’s violent disapproval of Eniiyi, he stands firm, refusing to be swayed by prejudice or pressure. His declaration, “‘I am not my father. And you are not Monife’” (329) is a direct and conscious rejection of the generational cycle, positioning him as a partner who is willing to fight for their future together.

Mama G is a mamalawo, or spiritualist, who profits from the desperation of the Falodun women, particularly Bunmi. Her potions and rituals, which she sells as powerful “juju,” offer the illusion of control over a fate they feel is predetermined by the curse. Mama G validates and monetizes the family’s belief in the self-fulfilling nature of negative beliefs, ensuring that they remain trapped in a cycle of superstition and suffering.

Funsho is Eniiyi’s loyal and supportive friend who harbors unrequited romantic feelings for her. He is consistently kind and present, offering a contrast to the dramatic and painful relationships that define the Falodun family history. When Eniiyi makes the pivotal decision to sleep with Funsho, she engages in a conscious but painful act of rebellion that is meant to break the fated path she feels Monife has laid out for her with Zubby. While the act hurts both Funsho and Zubby, it is a necessary step on Eniiyi’s quest to reclaim her sense of self and her agency.