An observant, middle-school-aged girl growing up in rural Ontario during the Great Depression. As the narrator, she tries to make sense of her family's plunge into poverty after the failure of their fox farm. She feels uncomfortable with her mother's bitter nostalgia and prefers the easygoing company of her father. Her interactions with adults slowly expand her understanding of the wider world.

The protagonist's father works as a door-to-door salesman for Walker Brothers, peddling medicines and spices across the countryside. Having recently lost his fox fur farm to the economic crash, he remains resilient. He uses humor and made-up driving songs to connect with his children and his rural customers. He treats everyone with equal respect, from unhoused individuals on the docks to old acquaintances.

The protagonist's mother is a proud woman struggling to accept her family's newfound poverty. Embittered by the loss of their fox farm, she isolates herself from her less affluent neighbors and insists on wearing her best Sunday clothes just to walk to the grocery store. Her unresolved grief over her lost social standing frequently manifests as headaches and a refusal to join her family on casual outings.

An unmarried Catholic woman living in a simple, clean farmhouse just past Ben's sales territory. Nora is vivacious and welcoming, quickly rushing upstairs to change into a lavishly flowered dress when she realizes Ben is visiting. She eagerly embraces companionship by offering whisky and playing music, though her bright demeanor carries an undercurrent of unspoken regret.

The protagonist's younger brother is a cheerful boy who joins his father and sister on sales rounds. He shares in the excitement of riding in the car and listening to his father's silly songs. These drives offer him freedom from the restrictive formal clothing his mother usually forces him to wear.

Nora's elderly, visually impaired mother lives quietly with her daughter in their rural farmhouse. Despite her lack of sight, she immediately recognizes Ben's voice when he enters the home, showing deep emotional sensitivity to his arrival.