Allison is a sensitive and imaginative 13-year-old girl living with her mother in Peyton Place. She believes her father is deceased and views herself as a legitimate child, completely unaware of her mother's closely guarded past. Prone to melancholy and deeply observant of the natural world, she faces social isolation while slowly discovering her ambition to become a writer.

Dr. Swain is the wealthy and highly respected town physician of Peyton Place. He takes immense pride in his medical duties and treats residents across all social classes with a relatively egalitarian approach. While he holds significant influence among the town's elite men, he privately harbors strong moral judgments against abusive individuals in the community.

Selena is a resilient 13-year-old girl growing up in extreme poverty in the shacks on the edge of Peyton Place. She endures a terrifying home life under the physical control of her alcoholic stepfather. Despite these conditions, she maintains a determined hope for independence, diligently saving money and planning a future away from her family's squalor.

Constance is Allison’s elegant, aloof mother who runs a thriving local business. She presents herself to the town as a respectable widow to hide the reality that Allison was born out of wedlock in New York. This closely guarded secret drives her to rigidly police her daughter's behavior, terrified of any scandal that might destroy their social standing.

Tomas is a pragmatic, well-educated teacher who moves from New York City to Peyton Place. As a cosmopolitan outsider, his uninhibited attitude directly challenges the rigid, hypocritical social conventions of the small New England town. He takes a fast, aggressive romantic interest in Constance MacKenzie upon arriving.

Lucas is Selena's uneducated, alcoholic stepfather who lives in the impoverished outskirts of town. Though he is a skilled carpenter whose work is valued by wealthy residents, he is deeply cruel behind closed doors. He inflicts severe physical and psychological trauma upon his family with complete disregard for their well-being.

Norman is a timid, frail boy in Allison and Selena's class who is widely referred to as "little Norman Page." He lives under the intense, smothering control of his anxious mother. This highly restrictive environment stifles his emotional development and leaves him deeply uncomfortable with normal teenage socialization.

Nellie is the worn, exhausted mother of Selena and Joey. She works as a housekeeper for Constance MacKenzie to bring in modest income. Beaten down by decades of poverty and extreme mistreatment from her husband, she turns a blind eye to the darkest realities of her household in order to survive.

Rodney is the entitled, rebellious teenage son of the town's wealthiest man. Given immense privilege and freedom from a young age, he acts selfishly toward his peers and views others as objects for his own amusement. He expects his father to shield him from any negative consequences.

Leslie is the powerful owner of the local mill and one of the most influential figures in Peyton Place. He is fiercely protective of his social status and his son, Rodney. He views the working-class townspeople solely through an economic lens and uses his immense wealth to control outcomes in his favor.

Ted is a well-meaning classmate of Selena and Allison who frequently acts to protect smaller boys. He comes from a comfortable background but completely ignores the town's rigid class structures in his personal life. He harbors a steadfast crush on Selena and remains undeterred by her impoverished background.

Miss Thornton is the dedicated eighth-grade teacher in Peyton Place. She observes her students closely, worrying about their development in a town where class structures often dictate their destinies. She genuinely hopes education will benefit the children, even as she recognizes the limits of her influence.

Evelyn is Norman's intensely overbearing mother. She manipulates her son through guilt and fear, deliberately keeping him isolated from normal peer relationships. Her actions stem from a deep, anxious need to maintain absolute control over his life and development.

Betty is a working-class girl whose romantic involvement with the wealthy Rodney Harrington subjects her to the town's intense scrutiny. She desires the status and security that Rodney represents but lacks the social protection necessary to navigate their unequal power dynamic safely.

Seth is the editor of the local Peyton Place newspaper. He is a fixture among the town's elite men but maintains a slightly broader perspective due to his journalistic role. He occasionally gives opportunities to aspiring young writers in the community.

Joey is Selena's younger half-brother. He grows up in the same impoverished and frightening household, bearing witness to his father's cruelty and the family's extreme poverty. He relies heavily on his sister for emotional stability.

Kenny is the town handyman who is heavily dependent on alcohol. He frequently wanders the streets and participates in days-long drinking binges with other working-class men, making him a common subject of the townspeople's relentless gossip.

Reverend Fitzgerald is the town's Protestant minister. Though he maintains a respectable public position, he is highly conscious of his working-class Irish background and privately wrestles with his religious convictions, fearing the town's harsh judgment.

Charles is the town’s most successful lawyer. He lives on affluent Chestnut Street alongside the doctor and the mill owner, representing the established, wealthy power structure of Peyton Place.

Marion is the wife of the town's prominent lawyer. She is a snobby, self-involved woman who frequently passes harsh moral judgments on the less fortunate residents of Peyton Place, taking offense when others do not agree with her biased views.

Hester is an eccentric, elderly spinster who lives entirely alone in the house where she grew up. Her reclusive nature and mysterious background make her a frequent subject of speculation and fear among the town's youth, particularly Norman Page.