- Iris Chase Griffen: The narrator and protagonist of the tale.
- Laura Chase: Iris's sister, whose suicide opens the book and who is named as the author of the novel within.
- Richard E. Griffen: Iris's ruthless, older husband with political ambitions.
- Winifred Griffen Prior: Iris's fashionable, manipulative, and social-climbing sister-in-law.
- Alex Thomas: A young author with Communist sympathies who takes refuge in Avilion with the sisters' help.
- Cpt. Norval Chase: The father of Iris and Laura. After being seriously injured in World War I and later widowed, he begrudgingly runs the family button business while descending into alcoholism and depression.
- Reenie: The loyal Chase family housekeeper who becomes like a mother to Iris and Laura.
- Myra Sturgess: Reenie's daughter (possibly by Cpt Chase), who aids Iris in her old age.
- Aimee Adelia Griffen: Iris's daughter.
- Sabrina Griffen: Iris's granddaughter.
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