Narrator
The narrator is an unnamed young woman who has just moved from New York to The Hague to take a job as an interpreter at the World Court where war criminals are tried. Her cultural background can be determined to a certain extent by the reference to her being fluent in English and Japanese as a result of her parents. In addition to those languages, she developed a fluency in French as a result of a childhood spent in Paris. Her life is primarily characterized by a sense of instability.
Jana
Jana is the first close friend that the narrator makes in The Hague, having been introduced through a mutual friend living in London. Jana is an especially artsy type who works as curator for the national art gallery. She is also a foodie or gourmand or something; anyway, she enjoys cooking as well as dining out.
Adriaan
It is as a result of Jana’s love of all things related to food preparation and consumption that she meets the narrator’s boyfriend, Adriaan. That first meal creates a tension resulting from Jana’s obvious attraction. But there is something even more potentially unstable about their romantic circumstances: Adriaan just so happens to still be married to his wife which exists on uncertain footing and creates conflict which comes into sharp focus in the latter half of the narrative.
Amina
Amina is fellow interpreter working at the Court who becomes a kind of model for the narrator to judge the working process. Due to her fluency in Swahili, Amina comes under tremendous emotional stress as she is the only truly capable interpreter working with a high-profile African leader facing accusations of ethnic cleansing among other high crimes.
