Miranda Bok emigrated to America with her pregnant mother when she was seven years old. Miranda cares for her younger sister, Lucia, all the way into adulthood. Miranda is a very dedicated sister, spending much of her time and attention focused on helping Lucia. Miranda is bound by family obligations, as their mother placed the expectation of Lucia’s care on her shoulders. Miranda takes her desire to care for Lucia too far, sacrificing her own life to do so and focusing on ensuring that Lucia remains on her medication, which comes at the expense of her relationship with her sister.

Miranda, as a character, must navigate the line between love and duty. Where Lucia represents the American lifestyle of freedom and self-interest, Miranda represents their Chinese heritage and the heavy obligation of familial duty. While all of her actions have good intentions, many characters view Miranda as controlling and emotionally detached. They repeatedly tell her to let Lucia make some of her own decisions, and that Lucia cannot be forced to accept treatment; however, Miranda insists on trying to protect her sister no matter what. Miranda struggles to balance her own life and care with her responsibility to Lucia. Stefan, Miranda’s husband, tries to convince her to prioritize her own well-being over her sister’s, but Miranda angrily dismisses him, as she does not believe he understands her responsibilities.

After Lucia’s death, Miranda spends years healing from the guilt she feels and wonders what she could have done better. Miranda’s meeting with Essy, Lucia’s daughter, almost 10 years later, offers her some much-needed closure; Miranda is able to form a bond, however belated, with her sister’s daughter, and pass on some knowledge of their family history.

Yonah is a happy, kind, and loving man from Russia who is Lucia’s first husband. Yonah, despite his outward aloofness, is a very thoughtful and strong man. He has two children, both of whom he has a somewhat estranged relationship with. Yonah and Lucia marry happily at the beginning of the novel, and when Lucia experiences an “episode,” he remains dutifully by her side despite not really understanding what is happening. Lucia decides to leave him because he does not want to have a child with her, and he does not resist, stating that he will not get in the way of Lucia doing what she wants. However, when Lucia is in Crote Six, he dutifully visits her until Manny arrives. He and Miranda, Lucia’s sister, remain in touch despite the divorce.

Yonah values Lucia’s autonomy, and he is one of the people in the novel who stands up for her freedom, even against Miranda. Though he recognizes Miranda’s good intentions, he urges her to consider Lucia as an individual. He is the only person in the book who never places Lucia’s condition ahead of Lucia as a person.

Yonah appears again at the end of the novel, dying: He’d been diagnosed with testicular cancer, which quickly spread through his body and into his lungs. Lucia, his children, and Miranda return to stay with him in his final weeks. He remains happy and jovial through his end-of-life care, and he dies peacefully at home with Lucia at his side. Shortly before he dies, Yonah urges Miranda to remember that Lucia is her own person and to treat her accordingly; at the end of his life, he is all too aware of the regrets of broken relationships, and he does not want Miranda and Lucia to go through the same.

Manuel is a young, hardworking, and devoted man from Ecuador who meets Lucia in New York after she divorces Yonah. Manuel, or “Manny,” feels an immense amount of pressure during his life in New York. He fears being taken by the “migras” and sent back to Ecuador since he is an undocumented immigrant. He also struggles with Balancing Self-Care and Family Obligations: His younger brother Fredy needs a life-saving operation, and his family wants Manny to get married to an American so Fredy can receive treatment in the United States. Once Lucia becomes pregnant, Manny continuously hesitates in asking Lucia to marry him, even though his mother urges him to do so. After Essy is born and Lucia experiences an “episode” that causes her to be hospitalized, Manny begins to have sexual relationships with other women, but ultimately decides to stay with Lucia for Essy’s sake. Though Manny cares about Lucia, he struggles with the care she needs in relation to her schizophrenia, on top of the responsibility of taking care of his daughter.

As Lucia, Essy, and Manny move to Ecuador, Manny’s character shifts slightly in several ways. First, he is no longer held down by the fear of deportation and develops an air of confidence. Second, he slowly becomes more resentful of Lucia, while simultaneously becoming more worried about her health and treatment. As he settles back into life at home, Manny loses much of his sense of responsibility and respect; he dismisses Lucia’s idea of opening a laundry business in the city, claiming that women would have nothing to do, and he fails to build an outhouse and a nicer house for Lucia and Essy quickly after moving, despite promising to do so. Manny continues having sexual relationships with other women, but he remains dedicated to caring for his daughter, even as his relationship with Lucia becomes strained.

Manny takes an indirect approach to Lucia’s schizophrenia. At first, he does not force Lucia to take her medicine and get treatment; however, unlike Yonah, he does so because he is unsure of how to handle her condition, and he hopes that Lucia will be able to manage by herself, as he does not want the stress of additional responsibility. Later, he starts sneaking Lucia’s medicine into her tea, choosing to take away some of her autonomy in favor of ensuring she gets treatment. This places Manny opposite to Yonah, who believed in trusting Lucia with her own decisions. Several years pass in this manner, until Lucia leaves to care for Yonah in America, where she ultimately dies.

After Lucia’s death, Manny feels extremely guilty about his cheating, but chooses to keep it a secret from Miranda and his family. Years later, he remarries, happily living with his new wife and stepdaughter in Ecuador.