Joan is an award-winning journalist and novelist who investigates her own California heritage and the state's self-mythology. She grew up in Sacramento surrounded by pioneer crossing stories and romanticized views of the state's history. Driven by a desire to understand the contradictions in Californian identity, she blends personal memoir with historical analysis. She often reflects on the disconnect between the frontier values she was taught and the reality of California's economic and social environment.

Eduene is Joan Didion's mother and a descendant of long-standing Californian families. She is stubbornly opinionated and believes wholeheartedly in the spirit of unfettered individualism, though this outward certainty masks a deep apprehension of meaninglessness. She often dreams of moving away to places like Paris, displaying a restlessness common among Californians. She handles the hardships of World War II by relocating constantly to support her husband's work.

Frank is Joan Didion's father, a classic Californian risk-taker who supports his family through real estate and gambling during difficult financial periods. He works for the Army during World War II, which requires the family to relocate frequently across the country. Despite his active exterior, he carries a palpable sadness and an underlying fear of being a failure. He feels strongly tied to Sacramento out of a rigid sense of duty to his family.

Josiah is an 1855 California-born philosopher and academic who builds his career at Harvard. As the son of pioneers who crossed the plains in 1848, he asks early questions about the contradictions in Californian identity. He observes a distinct lack of social responsibility among settlers when money is involved, noting the tension between the state's heroic myths and its inhabitants' speculative opportunism.

Frank is a journalist and novelist who is deeply interested in the California story and its connection to American expansion. Though not originally from California, he spends time on a wheat farm in San Benito County to research his epic trilogy about the wheat industry. His work explores the conflicts between landowners and the railway, capturing the anti-corporate sentiments and labor exploitation prevalent in the region.

Henry is a political economist and journalist who moves to the West in 1858. He helps found the San Francisco Bohemian Club as a gathering place for radical artists and journalists. He writes the influential 1868 essay "What the Railroad Will Bring Us," which questions the state's enthusiastic surrender of land to corporate powers in exchange for rapid wealth.

Jack is a California-born novelist whose work deeply explores the state's mythologizing of its pioneers. He embodies the Californian desire to farm the land and leave a legacy, even attempting ambitious agricultural experiments in his own life. His writing reflects the xenophobia and isolationism of early white settlers who define themselves against newly arrived immigrants.

Joan is a major landowner who inherits significant agricultural property in Orange County. She takes over her mother's position in the Irvine Company at a young age and pushes for rapid, large-scale commercial development of the ranch. At the same time, she funds a museum for oil paintings depicting the pristine, pre-industrial California of her youth.

Jane is the descendant of William Welles Hollister and the heir to a massive pioneer-era ranch operation. She writes a memoir detailing her childhood on the square miles of wild, impassable terrain, demonstrating a deep nostalgia for the untouched wilderness. She views her family's history through an idealized, agrarian lens, glossing over the harsh commercial realities of their sprawling cattle business.

Nancy is Didion's four-times-great-grandmother who travels West alongside the Donner-Reed party. She is remembered for her boundless energy and constant activity during the harsh crossing. She leaves behind family heirlooms, such as an applique and a potato masher, which become venerated relics of survival for her descendants.

Edna is Joan Didion's grandmother. Unlike her rugged pioneer ancestors, she possesses an extravagance of spirit and a strong taste for expensive items. She passes down stocks and fancy perfumes as an inheritance and exhibits a restless nature during her life in the western states.

Ethel is Joan Didion's paternal grandmother, described by family members as nervous and different. Her family buys a farm in Florin for two dollars an acre after a turbulent crossing, eventually operating the property as a large family corporation for decades.

William is Joan Didion's great-great-grandfather. He crosses the harsh Sierra Nevada mountains and keeps a trail diary detailing his travels. He later settles in the Sacramento Valley during its high-water years, illustrating the extreme physical conditions early pioneers endured to claim property.

Elizabeth is Joan Didion's great-great-grandmother who makes the difficult journey across the plains. She survives the harsh travel conditions but suffers the tragedy of burying her young son on the trail in a trunk, an event that exemplifies the brutal sacrifices required of early Californian migrants.

Quintana is Joan Didion's young adopted daughter. During a hot summer day in the 1970s, she prompts a sudden realization for Didion about the irrelevance of biological heritage. Seeing her daughter triggers Didion's understanding that the pioneer history she was taught has no true bearing on her present reality, prioritizing their immediate bond over ancestral ties.

Donald is a former star athlete and Little League coach who returned to his hometown of Lakewood to raise his family. He proudly views himself as a solid, all-American citizen and fiercely defends his sons' reputations during a local controversy. He struggles to reconcile his wholesome vision of his middle-class life with his sons' severe criminal charges.

Dottie is a Lakewood resident who dedicates her life to supporting her sons' sports teams. Once proud to walk around her community, she finds herself hiding her face amid the media circus surrounding her sons' arrests. She watches the foundation of her all-American family face intense scrutiny under the weight of local allegations.

Dana is a high school athlete in Lakewood who becomes embroiled in a massive local scandal involving sexual crimes and theft. He faces felony theft charges and wishes he could return to the promising days of his early high school career before the community's economic and moral decline took hold.

Kristopher is a Lakewood teenager who participates in the Spur Posse, a group of boys who terrorize their peers. Although initially released when early charges are dropped, he is later arraigned for additional offenses and mandated to perform community service, drawing intense media scrutiny to his family.

Thomas is a highly profitable artist known for his signature "glow" and quaint scenic paintings. He paints scenes of Yosemite National Park after visiting with his family, portraying a sanitized, optimistic version of the California environment completely devoid of suffering or moral ambiguity.

Albert is a historical painter who captures sweeping, inspirational vistas of the Californian environment. His work, such as his depiction of Donner Lake, removes the bloody and tragic history of the land, leaving viewers with only a sense of misty awe and triumphant optimism.