Gifty is a 28-year-old Ghanaian American PhD candidate in neuroscience at Stanford University. She researches reward-seeking behavior in mice by studying their responses to a nutritional supplement called Ensure. Following a phone call from her hometown pastor, she takes in her severely depressed mother. She maintains a highly guarded personal life and avoids discussing her childhood in Alabama with her university peers.

Born in Ghana, she is a strict, religious woman who relocated to the United States to secure a better future for her firstborn son. She supports her family in Alabama by working long hours as a caretaker for the elderly, enduring low pay and racial abuse. Her intense grief over her family's struggles manifests as severe depression, frequently leaving her bedbound and withdrawn from her daughter.

Gifty's older brother, born in Ghana and raised in Alabama. He is a naturally gifted athlete who earns a spot as a star player on his high school basketball team. Following an ankle injury on the court, a doctor prescribes him the opioid painkiller OxyContin. He develops a severe addiction that fundamentally changes his personality and brings intense distress to his household.

Gifty's father, who earns his nickname from a playful habit of calling fried dough 'chin chin' near a food stand in Ghana. He follows his wife to Alabama but struggles to secure employment, eventually taking a job as a janitor at a day care center where he entertains children by pretending to be a giant tree-man. Unable to cope with the indignities of life in America, he returns to Ghana when Gifty is four years old.

A researcher who shares a neurobiology lab with Gifty at Stanford University. He works quietly alongside her for months, exchanging little more than greetings. He offers a steady, unintrusive presence and carefully respects her boundaries when she occasionally hints at her personal life.

A PhD student in literature who becomes Gifty's first serious romantic partner. He shows genuine interest in her scientific work and frequently cooks large meals for her and his friends in the literature department. He desires a closer connection with her family, a request Gifty persistently evades.

The evangelical leader of the church Gifty's family attends in Alabama. He presides over the congregation during Gifty's childhood, attempting to offer spiritual guidance. He occasionally tries to pray for Gifty's mother over the phone when her depression worsens.

A colleague from the Stanford School of Medicine and a vocal feminist advocate who pushes for female representation in the sciences. She actively tries to draw Gifty into social interactions, persistently requesting to visit her apartment and driving her around when her mother wanders off.

An outgoing college student who lives in a nearby dorm. She introduces Gifty to drinking and hallucinogenic mushrooms, forming an intense, emotionally charged friendship. She demands openness from Gifty, causing friction when Gifty refuses to share her past.

An elderly white man living in Alabama who hires Gifty's mother as a caregiver. He routinely directs racist insults at her, creating a hostile environment that the family endures strictly for the $10,000 annual salary.

A youth pastor at the family's Alabama church who attempts to make Christianity appeal to teenagers. His rigid, unsympathetic answers regarding whether unreached African villagers go to hell alienate Nana from religion entirely.

Gifty's aunt living in Ghana. She provides a temporary home for 11-year-old Gifty while her mother undergoes psychiatric treatment in the United States. She exhibits a personality and physical appearance markedly different from her sister.

An older boy in the Alabama congregation who puts on a pious, socially acceptable performance at church functions. He represents the hypocrisy of the local community that Gifty grows to distrust.

A childhood friend of Gifty's. She engages in an underwater breath-holding contest that goes dangerously far, illustrating the human impulse toward risky, pointlessly thrilling behavior.

Another of the elderly individuals Gifty's mother works for as a caretaker in Alabama. Her passing serves as a frightening event for Gifty, compounding the tension in the household.