Rachel is a 38-year-old food writer and cookbook author who hosts a public television show. She relies on humor and culinary expertise to process her emotions as her domestic life fractures. She values her career and autonomy but struggles with a deep investment in traditional family structures.

Mark is a successful syndicated political columnist and Rachel's second husband. Raised as a pampered child by his aunt, he expects the world to cater to his comfort and desires. He acts charming and executes grand romantic gestures but becomes deeply self-absorbed when his domestic stability is threatened.

Thelma is a tall woman married to a government official. She acts as an acquaintance of Rachel's who frequently attends social gatherings at her home. As the other woman in Mark's affair, her presence casts a shadow over Rachel's domestic stability.

Jonathan works as an undersecretary of state for Middle Eastern affairs. He approaches his wife's infidelity with a geopolitical mindset, preferring to wait out the crisis passively. He meticulously documents his wife's activities and inadvertently provides Rachel with devastating details about the affair.

Arthur is a pragmatic law professor who shares a close friendship with the Feldmans. His past marital infidelity provides a complicated context for the advice he and his wife offer Rachel.

Julie is Arthur's wife and one of Rachel's closest confidantes. Having survived her own husband's past affair by choosing to stay, she offers Rachel a practical, unromantic model of marital endurance.

Vera is Rachel's direct and opinionated therapist. She leads both individual and group sessions, pushing Rachel to determine her own needs rather than passively reacting to her husband's choices. Her own seemingly perfect marriage serves as an idealized standard for her patients.

Betty is a highly connected Washington socialite and gossip. She functions as a well-informed observer of capital society, highly skilled at reading social cues but occasionally misinterpreting critical personal details within her own friend group.

Harry is a wealthy character actor and Rachel's father. He provides his daughter with a temporary refuge and practical support during her crisis, though his own life is complicated by psychiatric care and extramarital relationships.

Bebe is Rachel's late mother, a former flamboyant Hollywood agent who primarily represented little people. Her later life was consumed by alcohol addiction and eccentric obsessions with trading stamps.

Richard is Rachel's television producer and former lover. Heartbroken over his own wife leaving him, he shares a connection of shared misery with Rachel and encourages her to take bold, dramatic action in her own life.

Sam is Rachel and Mark's two-year-old son. He provides a physical tether between his parents and is an innocent bystander in their deteriorating domestic life.

Nathaniel is Rachel and Mark's second child. His impending birth adds significant emotional and practical pressure to his parents' collapsing marriage.

Leo is a local jeweler. He handles the appraisal and repair of jewelry, casually conversing with clients about their recent purchases.

Diana is a member of Rachel's therapy group. She openly questions Rachel's coping mechanisms, particularly challenging her constant use of humor to deflect emotional pain.