Dr. Wilbur Larch
He is Homer's father figure, the head of St. Cloud's orphanage. After a particularly disturbing encounter with a prostitute as a young man, Larch remains averse to women and familial relations. Unable to fully process his trauma, he decides to deflect by helping women with their pregnancies, both wanted and unwanted. Although initially he refuses to perform abortions, offering instead the orphanage to these women, he later changes his mind after learning about the unsanitary, dangerous street abortions which are their only other option. He is aloof, refusing to allow anyone to become emotionally close to him, except for Homer who becomes his predecessor. Carefully planning his succession, Larch sets up a fake identity for Homer in order to allow him to become a doctor without the diploma, having trained him at his side all these years already.
Homer Wells
He's the protagonist. An orphan at St. Cloud's, he quickly endears himself to Dr. Larch. When Larch, his father figure, betrays his trust by lying about performing abortions, Homer leaves. He takes up with Wally and Candy, soon falling in love with Candy. Ascribing to a unique moral code, he has a baby with Candy after Wally is supposed to have been killed in WWII. When Wally returns, both Homer and Candy stick to their invented story, which is that Angel is an orphan adopted from St. Cloud's. Homer later releases all claims on the baby, Angel, and devotes his attention with renewed vigor to his practice with Dr. Larch. Eventually he takes over the orphanage and practice after Larch's death. He steps right into the role of his former caretaker, continuing the man's legacy.
Candy Kendall
She's a beautiful young girl who comes to Dr. Larch with her boyfriend for an abortion. Since she has a difficult time emotionally with the abortion, she opens up to Homer and initiates their friendship. Soon she too falls in love with Homer. She takes his lead in the relationship, especially when Wally comes back from the war.
Wally Worthington
Wally is a young man who earnestly cares about Candy. Generous to a fault, he invites Homer to live with them. In the war he is paralyzed when his plane is shot down, but reports spread that he's died. When he returns home to find Candy with a baby, he willingly accepts the story that the baby is adopted. Perhaps a touch naive, he raises the boy without any sense of illegitimacy. He struggles in his marriage to Candy, however, because he has been paralyzed from the waist down and finds himself in an emasculated position.
Angel Worthington
He is Candy and Homer's son who is raised to believe that he is an orphan from St. Cloud's. Raised on his parents' estate, he interacts with their employees throughout most of his youth. He falls in love with the foreman's daughter, Rose. Upon finding out that she is pregnant by her own father, he turns to Homer for help with an abortion.
Rose
She is the daughter of the Worthington's foreman. They're migrants, so her childhood has been characterized by change. She remains ever grateful to Homer for performing her abortion as the child conceived was a result of incest.
