Grace is an important character, and significant portions of the novel are narrated from her point of view. She functions as the novel’s antagonist: At first, she conflicts with Becker because she wants to maintain control over the artworks that she is hiding, and she wants to have control over the narrative surrounding Vanessa’s life. Eventually, Grace becomes a more direct antagonist because she drugs Becker and traps him on the island; she is likely also responsible for his death. Becker often notes Grace’s physical appearance: His first reaction upon meeting her is to be “surprised by how ugly she is” (43). Grace’s physical appearance is inseparable from how people perceive and respond to her, but it also allows her to conceal her dangerous inner nature.

Grace is a well-educated woman who has had a successful career as a physician. She can also be fiercely loyal: She was a devoted caregiver to Vanessa for many years. Her character is complex because she has committed several murders, but she has also saved many lives through her work as a physician. As she argues to Becker, “[Y]ou have to think of all the good I have done […] there is so much more on that side of the scale” (305). Even her name has connotations of empathy and forgiveness. To some extent, Grace engages in self-delusion because she feels that her acts of violence, as well as many acts of lying and deception, are justified. As a character, Grace’s deception contributes significantly to Public Persona Versus Personal Identity.

Grace is a lonely and reclusive character who persistently finds it difficult to bond with other people because she misreads social cues and miscalculates degrees of attachment. Grace experienced an emotional trauma as a young woman when two people whom she perceived to be close friends abandoned her, and this event significantly shaped her character. Grace subsequently developed an obsessive bond with Vanessa: While Vanessa sometimes exploited Grace and treated her selfishly, Grace manipulated and lied to Vanessa because she wanted to retain control and access. Grace experiences another version of this obsessive bonding when she mistakenly begins to believe that she and Becker have become close friends. Grace lashes out in violence when she believes that her trust in someone has been betrayed or when she is trying to protect someone whom she cares about.

Grace is a static character who does not experience any growth or development throughout the novel; rather, she becomes even more entrenched in her destructive psychological patterns and behaviors. When she realizes that Becker does not feel a genuine emotional connection to her, Grace decides to kill him. She wants to conceal the secrets she has disclosed to Becker, and she is also angry with him for what she perceives as rejection. Grace drugs Becker to prevent him from leaving the island, and he presumably drowns after she strands him on the causeway as the tide is coming in. Grace gets away with this crime as well as her other murders. Because she is never held accountable for any of her actions, she never faces any consequences.

Vanessa has already died when the primary plot begins, but she plays a significant role in the novel. Many of Grace’s memories and flashbacks involve Vanessa, and portions of the narrative include Vanessa’s letters and journals. Vanessa was a beautiful woman with a keen creative sense; she was also flexible and experimental in her artistic practice. She worked across multiple mediums and adapted her artistic style based on her experiences and emotional states. Vanessa was independent and enjoyed the privacy that she found while living on Eris; she also had a sensitive and keen appreciation of the harsh beauty of the natural world.

Vanessa was aloof, acerbic, and sometimes selfish; she wanted complete freedom to pursue her artistic career and to live on her terms. She had no qualms about, for example, having an affair with Douglas Lennox while he was married. Vanessa could also be cruel to Grace: She appreciated Grace’s devotion and efforts to make her life comfortable, but she was also sometimes cold and cruel to her. Vanessa understandably sometimes felt smothered by Grace, but she also relied on her friend’s unflinching loyalty. Vanessa guarded her privacy fiercely, to the extent that she never revealed why she canceled her exhibition after most of her pieces were destroyed. Vanessa’s letters and journals reveal that she experienced some growth and development over her life: She came to understand her most important values and felt a sense of peace and contentment with how she had lived her life. Knowing that she was dying, Vanessa concluded one entry, “[T]hank god I realized, in the nick of time, that I didn’t want to live the life I was expected to” (309). Vanessa died proud of her artistic legacy and her unconventional life.

Sebastian is a significant secondary character; he is the son of Douglas Lennox and has inherited a significant art collection, including most of Vanessa’s pieces. Sebastian is handsome, charismatic, and privileged: Becker describes him as “tall and handsome and rich” (27). He has been close friends with Becker ever since the two of them met at school. Sebastian was engaged to Helena before she decided to pursue a relationship with Becker instead. He seems to have accepted this change of events while graciously maintaining a close friendship with both Becker and Helena. However, Sebastian is protective of his family’s legacy and implicitly trusts his late father, which tends to make him suspicious and antagonistic toward Grace.

The reader only has access to Sebastian through Becker’s point of view. Becker is often jealous and insecure around his supposed friend because he still views him as a rival. To some extent, Sebastian functions as a foil to Becker because he represents everything that Becker sees as lacking in himself. However, the reader never has access to Sebastian’s inner thoughts and feelings to know what his motivations are. Because of the lack of access to Sebastian’s motivations and emotions, it is not clear whether his character experiences any growth or development.

Helena is Becker’s wife; she is pregnant as the primary plot unfolds. Initially, Helena was engaged to Sebastian: The two of them come from a similar socioeconomic background and seemed destined for a happy life together. However, Helena ultimately found Becker more desirable and decided to pursue a relationship with him instead. Helena is beautiful and pleasure loving; she is also quite pragmatic. Periodically, when Becker confides in Helena about what he is learning from Grace, Helena reveals that she is psychologically astute and insightful. For example, when discussing Vanessa’s reputation, Helena points out that “single-minded and selfish are just synonyms for childless, in some circles” (56).

The reader does not have access to Helena’s inner world, and they only see her from Becker’s point of view, so she remains quite an enigmatic character. It is not possible to know, for example, whether Helena is faithful to Becker or whether his fears are justified.