Therese Lafirme
Therese is a major character in the novel and one that the story begins with introducing. She owned a large mill and a plantation after her husband died. A man called David Hosmer who lives in her plantation falls in love with her but she makes the wrong decision and advises him to re-marry his wife. Therese is known as the advisor of most of her friends and acquaintances, and anyone who needs help in a decision or in any matter would probably go to Therese. Although she appeared as a strong woman with no emotions able to affect her, it is known throughout the story that Hosmer's insistence on her love was her weakness. Also, though Therese is known for her helpfulness, the advice she had given David was negatively life changing.
David Hosmer
David Hosmer is a divorced man who lives on Therese's plantation and deeply falls in love with her. He insists on marrying her although she rejected him several times. To prove his love for her, he married his ex-wife again as Therese advised. However, David and Fanny (his wife) both knew that their love isn't genuine. Moreover, David meets Therese secretly and keeps expressing his love and need to marry her. Although David wasntw fond of his wife, he mourns for a year when she died, staying away from Therese.
Fanny Hosmer
Fanny is David's wife who used to live in the North when she got divorced. She got very sick but later was treated, and she agreed to marry David again when he went to her and told her that feels that he was wrong. Fanny's strong character is shown in the end of the novel when she confronts David with her knowledge of his love for Therese. She leaves the house and in the same day drowns when the house of Marie Louis (the woman who Fanny took refuge in her house during the bad weather) collapsed from the storm and rain.
Gregoire
Gregoire is Therese's nephew and a man who is in love with a woman called Milicent. However, Melicent doesn't show him affection but she goes out with him and leaves him to kiss her. Although Gregoire knows that she doesn't love him the same way he does, he still loves her and doesn't imagine living without her. When the mill is burnt, Gregoire kills the vandal, and Melicent stops talking to him and sees him as a murderer instead of a saver. She leaves Place de Bois without even telling him goodbye. Of course, Gregoire is devastated and later is known to be killed in another settlement when he raised his gun to somebody. No one knows if he was really drunk or it was his intention to kill someone and use his gun.
