Serena Fitzmaurice functions as a deuteragonist whose journey documents a dramatic internal transformation. Initially, she is presented as a static archetype: the perfect, beautiful, and cold political wife, whose primary function is to serve as an elegant accessory to her husband, Ben. Her identity has been meticulously constructed around this public role, a performance she has maintained since her youth, when her father taught her that her beauty made her “fundamentally worthy of attention” (24). Beneath this polished exterior, however, lies a deep well of disillusionment, restlessness, and burgeoning rage.

The novel portrays Serena as a complex character, trapped between the woman she is expected to be and the authentic self she is beginning to crave. Her entry into menopause acts as a catalyst for this change, disrupting her carefully controlled life and forcing her to confront her own invisibility and lack of agency. Her growing awareness of the #MeToo movement fuels a resentment for a world that has underestimated and exploited her. Throughout the narrative, she makes small gestures of rebellion, beginning with her decision to invite Martin Gilmour to Fliss’s funeral, a calculated act to destabilize Ben. Her affair with Andrew Jarvis is another attempt to regain control of her life and seek revenge. However, Jarvis’s rape of her ultimately underscores her misguided decision to seek autonomy through another powerful man.

Serena’s character provides a firsthand perspective of Hiding the Authentic Self With a Public-Facing Persona, as she grapples with the chasm between her curated persona and her internal turmoil. Her spells at the Austrian clinic involve a painful self-reckoning as she confronts her tenuous sense of identity beyond her performative role as a politician’s wife. In the end, her decision to stay with Ben is a pragmatic choice made with a newfound, cynical clarity about the transactional nature of their marriage and the security it provides. She learns to leverage her position, negotiating the terms of her role rather than passively accepting them.

Ben Fitzmaurice is the charismatic and ambitious politician whose moral compromises and sense of entitlement drive much of the plot. He embodies the charming yet ruthless nature of the British ruling class. From his youth, Ben cultivates a persona of effortless superiority, using his good looks, wealth, and social standing to manipulate people and circumstances to his advantage. His primary motivation is the acquisition and maintenance of power, both for himself and for the Fitzmaurice family name.

Ben exemplifies the themes of The Corrupting Nature of Wealth and Status and the fickle nature of loyalty in elite circles. To achieve his political ambitions, he is willing to sacrifice morality, justice, and personal relationships, viewing them as transactional and disposable. He operates with the belief that his status places him above the law and conventional morality, using his network of powerful friends to erase inconvenient truths. The novel charts the history of Ben’s ruthlessness, beginning with the cover-up of Vicky Dillane’s death, for which he allows his best friend Martin to take the blame. This pattern culminates in his most significant betrayal: covering up his sister Fliss’s rape by his friend and financial backer, Andrew Jarvis, to protect his leadership campaign. The callous act, which ultimately leads to Fliss’s death by suicide, underscores his prioritization of reputation over accountability.

Ben’s friendships are entirely strategic, as illustrated in his fluctuating relationship with Martin. When Martin was no longer useful, Ben discarded him as an “inconvenient loose end” (8). His rekindled connection with Martin is a political calculation, and his marriage to Serena is an essential part of his public image. It is only after his downfall, stripped of his power and status, that Ben shows any sign of moral growth. His introspection and professed remorse suggest a late-stage dynamic shift as he confronts the consequences of his actions from a prison cell.

Richard Take is a round, dynamic character who is a foil to the effortlessly successful Ben Fitzmaurice. Initially introduced as a disgraced, somewhat hapless backbench MP, Richard represents a different facet of the political class: the middle-class striver who lacks the innate privilege and social connections of his upper-class colleagues. His political career is in tatters after a humiliating scandal involving pornography, and his primary motivation is survival and the reclamation of his public reputation.

Richard’s journey is a masterclass in modern reinvention, highlighting the theme of hiding the authentic self with a public-facing persona. Recognizing that traditional politics have failed him, Richard embraces the world of popular media, strategically using a reality TV show, Shit Happens!, and a TikTok account to rebrand himself. He transforms from a political pariah into a relatable “man of the people” (58), demonstrating a shrewd understanding of contemporary celebrity culture.

Richard’s transformation is initially driven by opportunism, but as he aligns himself with Ben’s leadership campaign, he becomes an unwilling witness to the deep-seated corruption of the elite. The discovery of Ben’s and Jarvis’s crimes forces a moral reckoning upon him. His decision to expose them is born of a mixture of genuine outrage and personal ambition. By betraying Ben, Richard commits the ultimate act of political maneuvering, seizing the opportunity to position himself for leadership and ultimately becoming the Prime Minister. His arc is one of the most transformative in the novel, as he evolves from a political joke into a key power player who, ironically, achieves his goals by weaponizing the truth.

Cosima Fitzmaurice, Ben and Serena’s eldest daughter, is a dynamic character who functions as the novel’s moral conscience and a youthful rebel. She is defined by her fierce idealism and her anger at her family’s hypocrisy and privilege. Her environmental activism with the group Oblivion Oil is both a deeply held political conviction and a direct act of rebellion against her father, the Energy Secretary, and the values he represents. For Cosima, her family is not just “part of the problem, they were the problem” (72). Her motivations are twofold: a genuine desire to avert climate catastrophe, and a deeply personal need to distance herself from a family whose willful ignorance and moral corruption she despises.

Cosima’s character starkly illustrates a generational clash and is a constant critique of the corrupting nature of wealth and status. She feels a kinship with her late aunt, Fliss, seeing her as another family outcast who refused to conform. This connection fuels her determination to seek justice after she learns the truth about Fliss’s death. Her decision to leak the police files to Martin Gilmour is the novel’s pivotal act, setting in motion her father’s downfall. This act, however, is not without complexity; it is driven not only by a desire for justice but also by a confused, adolescent need to wound her father to get his attention. Cosima’s journey is one of disillusionment, not just with her family but also with the activist movements she joins. In the end, her tentative reconciliation with her parents suggests both maturation and moral compromise. Stripped of her idealism, she begins to grapple with the moral ambiguity of her own actions and the deeply ingrained nature of her privilege.

Andrew Jarvis is a flat, static character who is a primary antagonist and the embodiment of corrupt, unaccountable power. A wealthy hedge fund manager and an old school friend of Ben Fitzmaurice, Jarvis represents the toxic fusion of the old boys’ network and immense financial influence. His key traits are crudeness, predatory sexual behavior, and a profound sense of entitlement. Jarvis uses his money as a tool of coercion and control, bankrolling Ben’s political career in exchange for access, influence, and impunity. His motivations are simple and primal: the gratification of his own desires, whether for power, money, or sex, without regard for the consequences to others.

Jarvis is a central figure in the novel’s critique of elite male privilege. His rape of Fliss Fitzmaurice, and the subsequent cover-up orchestrated with Ben, is the book’s most damning indictment of a system that protects powerful men at the expense of their victims. Lacking Ben's superficial charm, Jarvis is overtly boorish and repulsive, a physical manifestation of the moral rot he embodies. Ultimately, his evasion of legal consequences for his crime reinforces the novel’s cynical argument that the wealthy and powerful are truly untouchable.