Laurel is the eldest child of the Nicolson family. She grows up at Greenacres, a cozy country house in Suffolk. As a restless sixteen-year-old, she dreams of moving to London to attend drama school and escape her quiet domestic life. Fifty years later, she is a successful actress seeking to uncover the truth behind a violent act she witnessed her mother commit in their front yard.

Dorothy is the matriarch of the Nicolson family and a devoted mother who creates a warm home for her children. In 1961, she inexplicably stabs a man named Henry Jenkins in her yard. By 2011, she is frail and hospitalized, which prompts her daughter Laurel to investigate her hidden past and wartime experiences.

Dolly is an ambitious young woman from Coventry who works as a paid companion to a wealthy older woman during the Blitz. She resents her working-class background and actively cultivates fantasies about living a glamorous high-society life. She relies on her vivid imagination to distance herself from the harsh reality of the war and the trauma of losing her family.

Vivien is a wealthy, elegant woman living in Campden Grove with her husband. Orphaned as a child in Australia following a car crash, she volunteers at a local canteen and a children's hospital. She maintains a reserved exterior that hides her vulnerability and her desire for a true family.

Jimmy is a young, working-class photographer who moves to London and captures images of the wartime destruction. He takes care of his aging father and remains fiercely loyal to Dolly despite her frequent dismissals of him. He possesses a strong moral compass that often conflicts with Dolly's schemes.

Henry is an author known for his semiautobiographical novels. He is married to Vivien and presents a respectable, successful image to the London public. He tracks down Dorothy decades after the war, threatening her family and prompting a fatal confrontation.

Lady Gwendolyn is an older, wealthy unmarried woman who employs Dolly as a companion. She rarely leaves her house and remains resentful that her sister abandoned her years ago to get married. She provides Dolly with access to luxury clothing but offers little actual warmth.

Gerry is Laurel's younger brother who grows up to become a university professor in Cambridge. He assists Laurel with her research into their mother's past, tracking down historical documents and archival records to piece the mystery together.

Stephen is Laurel's father and Dorothy's husband. He is a grounded, loving man who returned from the war and built a stable life with his wife at Greenacres. He purposefully shields his younger children from the violent event that occurred in their yard.

Kitty is a secretary for the War Office quartered in Lady Gwendolyn's residence during the Blitz. She later marries an RAF pilot and provides Laurel with crucial historical context about Dolly's wartime behavior during a present-day interview.

Katy is an Australian teacher who travels with Vivien to England after the child's family dies in a car crash. She remains a lifelong correspondent and mother figure to Vivien, expressing deep concern for the young woman's well-being in her journals.

Dr. Rufus is the father of Dolly's childhood friend. He secures Dolly her position with Lady Gwendolyn and accurately assesses Dolly's tendency toward narcissism and fantasy as part of his research.

Jimmy's father is a former toymaker and undertaker. He struggles with his memory, frequently forgetting that his wife left him years ago and dwelling heavily on the death of his older brother in World War I.

Marty is Jimmy Metcalfe's descendant and a theater teacher who wrote his doctoral thesis on Laurel's acting career. He shares his family's history and wartime photographs with Laurel, helping her piece together the past.

Nella is a young girl orphaned by a bomb blast in London. She participates in a hospital production of Peter Pan organized by volunteers and forms a bond with Vivien.

Rose is one of Laurel's younger sisters. She helps coordinate their mother's ninetieth birthday party and remains completely unaware of the violent incident from 1961.

Iris is another of Laurel's younger sisters. She joins the family gatherings as their mother's health declines and assists with the birthday preparations.

Daphne is Laurel's youngest sister. Like Rose and Iris, she is shielded from the darker truths of their mother's past and focuses on celebrating Dorothy's long life.

Billy is a local boy and Laurel's teenage crush. He represents her early desires for romance and independence before she leaves for London.