Twyla is an eight-year-old girl placed in an orphanage because her mother, Mary, likes to dance all night. Raised with racial prejudices learned from her mother, she initially objects to rooming with a girl of another race but quickly abandons this apprehension. As she grows up, she works as a waitress at Howard Johnson's and eventually settles down in Newburgh, New York, finding the domestic stability she always craved.

Roberta is a young girl whose very religious mother is too sick to care for her. Struggling in school because she cannot read, she relies on her bond with Twyla for comfort against the older bullies at the orphanage. As she ages, her physical appearance and class status change dramatically, transforming her from a vulnerable girl into a wealthy woman who fully adopts the clothing and habits of high society.

Mary is Twyla's mother, a woman who is unable to fulfill her parental obligations because she prefers to party and dance. During visits, she dresses in tight green pants and a tattered fur jacket, acting more childish than maternal. She fails to bring food for her daughter and displays strong, vocal prejudices against other people.

Roberta's mother is a large, unyielding woman whose sickness forces her to leave her daughter in institutional care. She is highly religious, wearing a large cross, and holds strict moral ideals. She brings generous lunches of chicken and ham for her daughter but outright refuses to shake hands or interact with Twyla's mother.

Maggie is a mute, bow-legged kitchen worker at the orphanage. Wearing a childish hat and possessing a small stature, she serves as a vague maternal figure but remains highly vulnerable to the older girls at the institution. Her inability to speak fascinates the young children, representing a silent isolation they fear for themselves.

James is Twyla's husband, a man she describes as being as comfortable as a house slipper. He comes from a large, loud family rooted in Newburgh. He provides Twyla with the domestic stability and community belonging she lacked during her years at St. Bonaventure.

Joseph is the son of Twyla and James Benson. As he grows up in Newburgh, he becomes part of a controversial school desegregation plan that requires him to be bussed to a different campus. His changing school assignment draws his mother into intense local protests.