Florence Day is a 28-year-old ghostwriter living in New York City. She secretly writes for mega-bestselling romance author Ann Nichols but currently suffers from severe writer's block after a painful breakup. Since childhood, Florence has possessed the ability to see and communicate with ghosts, a trait that caused public ridicule and prompted her to leave her South Carolina hometown a decade ago. She is fiercely loyal to her family despite the physical distance between them.

Benji is a 36-year-old romance editor who maintains a tidy, buttoned-up appearance with pressed pants and an organized desk. Shortly after denying Florence an extension on her manuscript, he appears on the doorstep of her family's funeral home as a ghost following a reported accident. He struggles to understand his incorporeal state while attempting to help Florence restore her faith in love.

Xavier runs the Days Gone Funeral Home in the small town of Mairmont, South Carolina. He shares his daughter's ability to communicate with spirits and approaches death with acceptance and celebratory humor. His sudden passing forces Florence to return home and confront her past while fulfilling his highly specific, eccentric funeral requests.

Lee is a literary fiction editor and Florence's ex-boyfriend. He views the romance genre with condescension. During their relationship, he secretly appropriated Florence's private stories about her family and her ghost-seeing abilities to write his own highly anticipated novel.

Rose is Florence's outspoken, fiercely loyal roommate and best friend in New York City. Having moved from Indiana with very little, she embraces city life with wild energy and a direct, unsentimental manner. She actively provides Florence with emotional support and practical pushes when needed.

Alice is Florence's sister who stayed in Mairmont to work at the Days Gone Funeral Home. She takes pride in the family business, skillfully preparing bodies for burial. Alice harbors lingering resentment toward Florence for moving to New York and leaving the family behind.

Carver is Florence's brother who works in the tech industry but enjoys woodworking as a hobby. He is currently building a cage to fulfill his father's unusual request for a flock of crows at the funeral. He maintains a lighthearted curiosity about the secret identity of the author Florence ghostwrites for.

Florence's mother met her husband in a ballroom dance class and shared a deeply romantic, thirty-year marriage with him. She anchors the eccentric Day family with a sharp wit while firmly defending her family's history against outside misrepresentation.

Ann is a mega-bestselling romance author whose name commands massive respect in the publishing industry. Florence has ghostwritten three successful books under Ann's name and is struggling to complete the fourth for her contract.

Dana is a nonbinary local resident who runs the bed and breakfast in Mairmont. They remember Florence from high school and provide her with accommodations in a room whimsically themed around poisonous plants.

Heather was Florence's primary tormentor in high school, responsible for spreading cruel rumors about her ghost-seeing abilities. She remains in Mairmont and leads a local book club that happens to read novels Florence has ghostwritten.

Harry is the ghost of a young boy Florence helped when she was thirteen years old. He led Florence to the Ridge to discover his buried body, resulting in a police investigation that turned the town against Florence.

Nicki is Carver's boyfriend who participates in the Day family's extended circle. He offers support to Carver during the family's period of mourning.

Laura is Benji's former fiancée. Her decision to cheat on Benji with a coworker left him with deep insecurities about his worthiness for romantic love.

Seaburn is the owner of the Mairmont town cemetery. He is an affable local who read and genuinely enjoyed Florence's commercially unsuccessful first novel.

Fetch is a golden retriever who holds the honorary title of town mayor in Mairmont. He provides a lighthearted presence in the small town.

Bruno is a local Elvis impersonator whom Xavier Day enjoyed watching perform. Florence seeks him out to fulfill her father's specific funeral request for musical entertainment.