August and her Family
The narrator and protagonist of the novel is August who is telling the story from the perspective of the modern day as she has returned to Brooklyn for the first time in two decades on the occasion of her father’s death. The bulk of the story is a flashback to when she was a child, focusing on her relationship with several girlfriends as well as a rocky domestic situation resulting from her mother committing suicide and her father subsequently becoming involved with a woman who indoctrinates him into the Nation of Islam.
Sylvia and her Father
Sylvia is the de facto “leader” of a group of girls whom August idolizes from afar. Taking notice of August’s furtive fascination, she reaches out and eventually invites August to become a member of the tight-knit group who come to share everything and bind together for protection against the dangers of the world outside their compact. Sylvia’s father’s constant reiteration of advice that the girls must take education seriously as a means of beating the effects of racism situates him as a symbol of black-on-black elitist racism.
Gigi and Her Mother
The most strikingly beautiful member of this quartet who all become targets of lascivious glances both from boys they know and older men they don’t, Gigi dreams of moving to Hollywood and becoming an actress. Her equally beautiful mother is supportive of this dream and manages to get her transferred to a school for performing arts. While all the girls must deal with racism simply as a matter of being black, Gigi also faces the peculiar brand of black-on-black racism in the form espoused by her lighter-skinned mother who encourages her on what steps to take to avoid darkening her complexion.
Angela
Angela is most notable among this sisterhood for being the only one of them who is actually a native of Brooklyn rather than having moved into the borough from elsewhere in the country. She shares with Gigi an interest in performing and is a talented dancer like her mother used to be before sliding into drug use and becoming a pathetic junkie whom Angela is ashamed of. As an adult, August will realize that Angela, unlike Gigi, succeeded in her ambitions to become an entertainer.
