Gertrude "Gerty" Lorimer
Gertrude is twenty-three years old at the start of the novel. She is the main character in the book and also the main character within the relationship between the Lorrimer sisters. She is smart, hard-working and determined to pull her family out of poverty. She had dreams of becoming a writer but has to give them up in order to make a go of the photographic studio. By the times Lord Watergate makes romantic advances towards her, she has become almost afraid to be happy. She is frightened to accept his love in case she loses it. Fortunately she is given a second chance. Although the cleverest of the sisters she is constantly drawing attention to the fact that she is the most plain in appearance.
Lucy Lorimer
Gerty may well be the main character, but Lucy is the most inspirational one. She is stoic, pragmatic and definitely a woman ahead of her time. If life sends Lucy lemons she rolls up her sleeves and makes lemonade. She is the driving force behind the photography studio and she is also the one who is the most passionate about it. She is the poster child for feminism. Even after she is married with a children, she continues to work.
Phyllis Lorimer
Phyllis is the most physically striking of the sisters. She is the youngest also and consequently spoiled by the others. She is able to wrap everyone around her little finger. She is the most sickly and prone to being unwell of the sisters, and ultimately succumbs to "consumption", a form of tuberculosis.
Fanny Lorimer
Fanny is the half-sister to the other Lorimer girls. She is not a feminist and at thirty years of age, the most traditional and old-fashioned. She has all of the qualities that men find stereotypically positive, such as a passion for home-making and a high regard for the importance of being domestic and servile to one's man.
Frank Jermyn
Frank is an artist who makes a living by making engravings for newspapers. He is instrumental in making the photographic studio a success because he invites the sisters to meet his associates and friends, and is their gateway into the London art community. He is attracted to Lucy from very early on in their friendship. Frank is almost killed when working with a newspaper alongside the military. He marries Lucy and they have two children. He is a renaissance man in a way because he views Lucy's feminism positively.
Sidney Darrell
Darrell is a prominent artist and a social conduit for the Lorimer sisters and their photography business. He is also a bit of a sleaze. He invites Phyllis to pose for him, and then asks her to run away to Italy with him, neglecting to mention to her that he already has a wife.
Lord Watergate
Lord Watergate is introduced fairly early on in the novel when the sisters are asked to take photographs of his wife in death. He is a physiologist and extremely well-connected socially and within art circles specifically. He is in love with Gertrude and to his credit (or because he is a man who cannot imagine being turned down) he does not take no for an answer and continues to visit with her until she accepts his marriage proposal.
