Mabel is a woman in her early fifties who has relocated from a comfortable life in Pennsylvania to a homestead in the brutal Alaskan territory. The daughter of a university literature professor, she is accustomed to a life of privilege but seeks refuge in the frontier from the lingering grief of a stillborn child. She struggles with deep depression and isolation, finding it difficult to connect with her husband or her unforgiving surroundings.

Jack is a homesteader in his fifties who leaves his apple farm in Pennsylvania to wrestle a living from the unforgiving wilderness. He attempts to focus on the practical realities of survival while quietly carrying his own grief over his lost child. He wants to support his wife but often feels helpless when facing her deep emotional distance.

Faina is a young, feral girl who survives on her own in the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. Accompanied by a red fox, she possesses a striking wild beauty and moves about the snowy environment with an eerie ease. To Mabel, she seems like a magical creature born from a Russian fairy tale, while Jack views her as a resourceful orphan braving the elements.

Garrett is the youngest son of the neighboring Benson family. He is a capable and taciturn young man who feels entirely at home in the rugged outdoors. Preferring the solitary life of setting trap lines in the mountains over working his family's farm, he embodies a natural connection to the frontier.

George is a prosperous and practical homesteader whose farm sits about ten miles from Jack and Mabel's cabin. He has successfully adapted to the brutal environment and leads a warm, industrious household. Unselfish and community-minded, he offers crucial assistance to Jack during the couple's difficult early days.

Esther is George's wife and the matriarch of the bustling Benson family. Hard-bitten by years on the frontier but possessing a generous heart, she provides Mabel with much-needed friendship and grounding. She approaches the realities of homesteading with a practical, unshowy resilience.

Ada is Mabel's sister who lives a comfortable life back in Philadelphia. She serves as a distant anchor to Mabel's past, corresponding through letters and mailing Mabel the illustrated Russian fairy tale book that deeply impacts Mabel's view of Faina.

Joseph Maurice is Mabel and Jack's child who was born stillborn over a decade before the events of the novel. Though he is dead before the story begins, his memory haunts his parents and drives their desire to escape into the frontier, heavily influencing their reactions to Faina.