Abigail “Abbi” Bennett is a protagonist and narrator of When She Returned, and every other chapter is told from Abbi’s point of view in the present. Abbi is Scott and Kate’s daughter, and she was five years old when Kate disappeared. Eleven years later, Abbi is 16 years old, and she has adapted to growing up without Kate in her life. Unlike Scott, who has formed an obsessive, idealized version of Kate in his memories, Abbi believes she has outgrown her attachment to Kate prior to her mother’s return. 

Meeting Kate again brings out an urge for a familial connection with Kate that Abbi did not expect, and she finds herself grateful to have her mother back, gradually becoming as deluded as Scott in her defense of Kate’s behavior. Abbi’s primary motivation, though, is the desire for inclusion, which manifests in her decisions to show Kate her phone, allow Kate to use her phone each night, and move out with Kate. Abbi’s trust is betrayed when Kate arranges for Love International to kidnap Abbi, but she does not fully understand this betrayal until discussing it with Kate after the fact. Even as Abbi is in the back of the van, knowing Kate is working with Abner, she still worries about Kate’s well-being, clinging to the possibility that Kate is not betraying her. Abbi’s character arc over the course of the novel involves overcoming her idealized version of her mother and their family, and it culminates in her leaving her locket, with its picture of Kate, behind, signifying the closure of her relationship with her mother.

While Meredith, Scott, and Kate present adult perspectives in the narrative, Abbi’s perspective allows for the irrationality and desires of a teenager to influence the plot. Abbi is both rebellious, asking for coffee and running away, and craves attention, specifically referring to being ignored as being treated like a “child.” Abbi’s needs are different from Meredith's or Scott’s, who primarily want a successful marriage. Instead, Abbi wants a functioning household, and she feels like Meredith is only a substitute for Kate, who is her real mother. These desires prompt Abbi to spend more time with Kate while distancing herself from Meredith, which only furthers Abbi’s delusion that Kate is trustworthy, and Meredith is paranoid. However, Abby also shows moments of insight and compassion, illustrating her growing maturity, as when she recognizes the impossible position that Meredith has been put in.

Kate Bennett is the titular “she” in When She Returned, but she is the deuteragonist of the novel. Though Kate’s perspective is provided through the past timeline, these sections are attached to Meredith and Abbi’s perspectives—the narrative follows Kate’s experiences over 11 years alongside the experiences Meredith and Abbi have in the weeks following Kate’s return. Kate’s story is complex, but it hinges on her lack of options in terms of crafting her own identity, developing the theme of The Struggle for Identity Among Conflicting Loyalties. She feels trapped in her marriage with Scott, which she attributes to the support he provided when her parents died, but she does not see a viable way to escape the marriage without overwhelming guilt. Ray and Love International provide an avenue to overcome that guilt, but Kate must adopt the identity they require in the process. The intense penance required as a disciple in Love International is both a way for Kate to punish herself for wanting to leave Scott and a way to relieve her guilt. However, in the wake of leaving one relationship, she quickly becomes dependent on Ray/Abner’s love to sustain her sense of self. Only Shiloh, Kate’s infant daughter, provides the impetus required to push her out of Love International.

Kate’s role in the narrative is to display the effects of abusive relationships and cult dynamics on an individual. Prior to joining Love International, Kate is vibrant and intelligent, characteristics that might be seen as making her a poor target for a cult. However, these traits only serve to highlight the power of manipulation and deception, as Ray manages to pull Kate into Love International and create the cycle of abuse displayed in the text. Even though Kate manages to escape Love International once, she quickly regrets her decision, hurting herself at Abner’s command and plotting to kidnap Abbi in order to rejoin the cult. Dean and Brian try to explain Kate’s situation to Scott, Meredith, and Abbi, noting how survivors of abusive situations often return to those same situations, but they do not truly understand the full extent of Kate’s connection to Abner and the cult until the end of the novel. Kate’s decision to kidnap Abbi specifically highlights how this dependence warps any other sense of loyalty or responsibility.

Scott Bennett is Meredith’s current husband, Kate’s former husband, and Abbi’s father. He is a supporting character in the text, being neither a protagonist nor antagonist, though he appears antagonistic in both Meredith and Abbi’s perspectives. Scott’s defining characteristic is his negligence. In his marriage with Kate, he did not understand her desire to try new things, and though he offered his support, he was often critical of new ideas. This negligence pushed Kate to join Love International, though Scott refuses to acknowledge his role in that event. 

With Meredith, Scott’s negligence manifests differently, with Scott doting on Kate and ignoring Meredith, even going as far as rejecting the hard evidence Meredith provides to show Kate is a liar. Abbi, too, though she loves her father, is frequently disappointed in the way Scott excludes her from discussions and tries to make decisions on her behalf. Despite these shortcomings, Scott loves his family, and he is genuinely conflicted by Kate’s return, which forces him to consider how he can merge his life as a husband to two women and a father to Abbi.

Scott’s role in the novel is twofold, as he both encompasses the trauma of a grieving spouse and the manipulations of an enabler. Following Kate’s disappearance, Scott was the primary suspect in the police investigation, which led him to lie about aspects of his marriage. Those lies gradually became his “truth,” a common element of grief in which people idealize their deceased loved ones. Additionally, when Kate returns, Scott becomes an enabler of her relationship with Love International. He refuses to see or acknowledge problems Kate has or causes, even glossing over expert testimony and evidence. 

However, Scott is also intended to be a relatable character, as he simply wants to believe that his wife has returned to him and to hold onto the fantasy of the happy marriage he thought he had. In the process, though, Scott neglects Meredith, highlighting the fact that his character doesn’t change over the course of the novel—the same behavior that Kate complained about is also evidenced in his relationship with Meredith.