Tati is a fourteen-year-old girl living with her mother in Chicago. She feels the absence of her unknown father deeply, a void she attempts to fill by writing poems in a secret journal. Curious and determined, she manages the tense dynamics between her mother and grandmother while searching for her own identity.

Nadia is Tati's fiercely independent mother, running a home-based cosmetology business in Chicago. She bears the weight of single motherhood and maintains a strict silence regarding the identity of Tati's father. Her relationships feature a protective guardedness and lingering resentment over past betrayals.

Gladys, known as Mimi to her granddaughter Tati, is the formidable matriarch of the contemporary family. She frequently criticizes Nadia's life choices and often acts abrasive, utilizing her sharp tongue to mask deeply held fears and unresolved traumas from her youth in Alabama.

Emma is the historical matriarch of the family, born to an enslaved woman and an enslaver. Raised by the root-worker Evangeline, she inherits the farm and relies on spiritual traditions to protect her family. She is resilient, managing the family land while bearing the emotional toll of significant reproductive losses.

Jubilee is Emma's exceptionally light-skinned daughter who grows up in the post-Reconstruction South. Driven by ambition and a desire for a life free from racial persecution, she attempts to pass as a white woman. Her choices create deep rifts in her family and leave her managing the psychological costs of denying her heritage.

Ruby is Jubi's dark-skinned daughter, whose birth unravels her mother's life of passing as white. She endures emotional distance from her resentful mother but finds joy and self-definition through her innate talent for hair-braiding and a romance with a childhood acquaintance.

Sarah(?) is the foundational ancestor of the Dupree lineage, an enslaved West African woman who fiercely resists her captivity. Her defiance, ingenuity, and tragic fate form the origin of the family's inherited trauma and enduring strength.

Roman is a charismatic club promoter who engages in a whirlwind romance with Nadia in 1980. He guards his own secrets carefully and prioritizes his self-preservation and social standing over the well-being of the women he romances.

Zephaniah is the cruel patriarch of the Dupree plantation. He exercises absolute, sadistic power over the enslaved people on his property and enforces his will through extreme physical and psychological violence.

Evangeline is a formidable root-worker and midwife on the Dupree plantation. She possesses immense spiritual wisdom and serves as a pillar of strength, establishing a protective, matrilineal network of survival for the women in her care.

Eugene is a Pullman porter whose steady employment provides his family with financial stability. He offers Gladys an escape from the South and establishes a new life for them in Chicago, serving as a reliable and caring presence in their home.

Toya is Nadia's longtime friend in Chicago. Their friendship features complicated shared histories, conflicting loyalties, and the secrets they keep regarding the men in their lives.

Desirée is Tati's closest confidante and an aspiring photographer. Her relatively stable connection with her father provides a contrast to Tati's paternal absence, making her a crucial source of support.

Logan is a white store owner in Land's End who secretly marries Jubi. He is deeply invested in his social standing and reacts with aggressive disavowal when his carefully managed public image is threatened.

Sampson is an educated young man who struggles to find work during the Great Depression. He provides Ruby with affection and partnership, contrasting with the hostility she faces from her own mother.

George is a kind woodworker who marries Emma. He supports her through significant emotional hardship, quietly building fences and burying their lost children on the property.

Lou is Toya's partner and Desirée's father. He remains a part of his daughter's life and finds himself caught in the middle of the conflict between Nadia and Roman.

JB is a local white man in Land's End whose hostile actions toward a teenage Gladys leave a lasting, traumatic impact on her life.

Carl Darren is a relation of the Danube family in Land's End who participates in hostile actions against Gladys.

Bryan is Nadia's brother and Gladys's favored son. His presence highlights the differing expectations and treatment Gladys directs toward her male versus female children.

Terry is Nadia's brother, who, alongside Bryan, enjoys his mother's favor, contrasting with the harsh scrutiny Nadia endures.