Narrator, "Like a House on Fire"
The narrator of "Like a House on Fire" is the father of a young family (his eldest child, Ben, is eight) and has, for about sixteen weeks, been rendered immobile after slipping a disc in his back. He is a perfectionist, so it is especially frustrating for him to watch the house fall into disarray and clutter while he can't do anything but lie on his back on the floor and watch. His doctors told him the injury should be healed in six weeks, but it's been sixteen and he still hasn't regained mobility. He feels especially vulnerable because he knows his wife thinks the pain is psychosomatic.
Claire, "Like a House on Fire"
Claire is the wife of the narrator. She is a nurse at a hospital, and she doesn't share her husband's obsession with tidiness. When he was first diagnosed with a herniated disc, she took it in stride and assured him that it was nothing they couldn't handle, but after sixteen weeks, she's starting to resent him and suspect that the pain is psychosomatic.
Ben, "Like a House on Fire"
Ben is Claire and the narrator's oldest child. He no longer believes in Santa and for a moment, seems to consider ruining Santa for his two younger siblings. Ben is a marker for the narrator of the passage of time and aging. The narrator remembers, just the year before, reading Ben's sincere letter to Santa, and now he's being sarcastic and suggestive about it at the dinner table.
Chris, "Ashes"
Chris is a man in his mid-thirties on a day-trip with his mother to scatter his father's ashes. Chris thinks of himself as a secretive man, and he finds this secrecy ironic, since his father's secrecy drove such a wedge between them. He's overwhelmed with feelings of disdain and resentment for his mother's passive aggression and her penchant for revision.
Chris's mother, "Ashes"
Chris's mother is the observed party of "Ashes." The story hovers in a close-third perspective over Chris, and his mother's interiority is entirely fabricated in conjecture. She very much wants grandchildren, and she only hears what she wants to hear.
Narrator, "Laminex and Mirrors"
The story's narrator is eighteen years old, has just graduated from high school, and wants nothing more in the world than to leave her home town and travel to London. She hasn't decided whether or not she'll be returning. She likes to read, but hates that her enjoyment of reading is something her coworkers feel the need to remark on. They call her "the scholar." The only reason she is working on the cleaning staff of the hospital is to save up money for a ticket to Europe.
Mr. Moreton, "Laminex and Mirrors"
Mr. Moreton is a veteran in his seventies, and he suffers from emphysema. He's been told he only has a few weeks left to live, and all he wants is to smoke a cigarette, but the head nurse won't allow it. He asks the narrator to smuggle him one, but she says she can't or she'll lose her job. Eventually, though, he makes such an impression on her that she takes the risk and brings him a cigarette and wheels him outside so he can smoke it.
Dot, "Laminex and Mirrors"
Dot is one of the narrator's co-workers on the cleaning staff. She sells jewelry and cleaning supplies out of catalogs; she also is the one who gives the narrator her nickname, "the scholar."
Marie, "Laminex and Mirrors"
Marie is the head of the cleaning staff. She enjoys sitting in the supply closet with her feet up, reading the paper. She doesn't like it when people complete their work too quickly, and she gets angry with the narrator for talking to Mr. Moreton too much.
Michelle, "Five-Dollar Family"
Michelle is a new mother, having just given birth to Jason. The birth was a long, difficult labor, and she has to spend extra time in the hospital to recover. She's anxious about not being able to breastfeed Jason and feels like the midwives are overbearing.
Des, "Five-Dollar Family"
Des is Jason's father, but he doesn't seem to be very invested in the idea of actually raising him. He's facing assault charges the day Michelle is supposed to be discharged from the hospital.
Ray, "Sleepers"
Ray feels stalled in his life. He has lived in his friend's shed ever since he and his girlfriend, Sharon, broke up. The shed was supposed to be a temporary situation, but it feels less so every day, as he adds furniture and accents to it. Ray has also been feeling lethargic lately, and he suspects something is medically wrong with him.
