Emma is a young woman who recently dropped out of medical school after losing her seemingly magical healing touch. She returns to her hometown of Everton, New Hampshire, taking a job as a substitute teacher for a fifth-grade class. Formerly viewed as exceptionally gifted by her community, she struggles with feelings of inadequacy while trying to support her sick father and seeking her missing friend.

Clive is a former poetry professor and rock musician suffering from a terminal brain disease. The illness damages his short-term memory and causes him to hallucinate small animals. He devotes his remaining time to an obsessive search for Emma's missing friend, papering the town with homemade flyers.

Ingrid is a local history specialist and the primary caretaker for both her family and the grounds of the Corbin Mansion. Exhausted by the demands of managing the estate and nursing her husband through his illness, she resents Clive's past infidelity and his increasingly erratic behavior.

Auggie is Emma's brother, a former athlete and musician recovering from a substance use disorder. Having recently left a rehabilitation facility, he seeks purpose in Everton and eventually takes on the role of director for the local community theater production of Titanic!: The Musical.

Crystal is the daughter of the former groundskeeper at Corbin Mansion and Emma's estranged best friend. She developed a substance use disorder and vanished before the events of the story, prompting Clive to launch a town-wide search effort to locate her.

The ghosts of Maple Street Cemetery serve as the narrators of the events in Everton. Invisible and unable to intervene in the physical world, they possess the ability to read the thoughts of the living and comment enthusiastically on the townspeople's daily struggles.

Moses is a large white stray dog with Great Pyrenees lineage that Emma adopts on her drive home from California. He quickly bonds with Clive, taking on the role of a devoted guardian for the ailing professor.

Ernest Harold Baynes is the ghost of a historical 19th-century naturalist and the former conservator of Corbin Park. Because his ashes were scattered rather than buried, he wanders freely outside the cemetery, conversing with Clive and encouraging his forays into the wild.

Mack is a high school biology teacher who returned to Everton to care for his mother, who has terminal cancer. He works a second job as a night watchman at the Corbin estate and reconnects with his former high school classmate, Emma.

Dr. Wheeler is Clive's attending physician. He suggests establishing a legal guardianship for his patient while simultaneously developing an inappropriate personal relationship with Clive's wife.

At 91 years old, Ralph is the wealthy owner of the local gun factory and the sprawling Corbin Mansion. He acts as an unofficial grandfather figure to the Starling family, who live in his caretaker's lodge.

Rasputin is a Russian pet fox that Clive impulsively purchases for a staggering sum of money. The wild animal introduces chaos into the Starling household, further straining Clive's marriage.

Claire is the former fifth-grade teacher at the local elementary school. She suffers a breakdown following her husband's arrest, leaving her classroom without supervision until Emma arrives.

Sid is Claire's husband and a former employee at Corbin Park. He faces criminal charges for selling illegal substances to the local community, contributing directly to the town's addiction crisis.

Percy is the CEO of the local gun factory who organizes a charity dinner to combat the opioid crisis. He is a grieving father coping with the reported loss of his young daughter.

Isabella is a fifth-grade student whose reported death from a rare autoimmune disease casts a long shadow of grief over her classmates and her father.

Leanne is a fifth-grade student in Emma's class who lives with her grandfather. Deeply affected by the loss of her best friend Isabella, she frequently leaves plastic poison dart frogs at the cemetery.

Mavis is an 86-year-old former Boston Conservatory teacher who lives reclusively inside the borders of Corbin Park. She gives singing lessons to local children and routinely leaves food out for wild black bears.

The Sprite was a pet fox raised by Ernest Harold Baynes in the early 20th century. The animal features prominently in the naturalist's published writings as a creature that was fiercely loyal but difficult to tame.

Jimmie is an orphaned bear cub adopted by Ernest Harold Baynes. The bear's growing strength and unpredictable behavior eventually make him too dangerous to keep in a domestic setting.

Jack is a wild black bear living in the woods of Corbin Park. He frequently visits Mavis Spooner's porch expecting to be fed breakfast.

Peter is an Animal Control officer and Auggie's former best friend. He is called in to handle dangerous wildlife situations within Everton.