Cathleen "Kate" Brady
The protagonist of this novel, and a young woman whose dreams are noticeably oriented in wish-fulfillment. As an idealist, she has a pre-formulated idea of what life should look like, deeply rooted in her conservative religious experience and beliefs. She carries this idea that life is basically a romance where she ought next be swept off her feet. She is constantly searching for the right person and impatiently settles for a dud, starting a painful deconstruction.
Bridget "Baba" Brennan
Although they both went to the same religious boarding school, Baba came out with wildly different beliefs than Kate. This makes them helpful foils in the story, because Kate must discover the aspect of her own self that would permit her to sleep with men who were not her husband. She is not as holy and committed as she believed, but this leads to conflict between the women about shame. Kate cannot free herself entirely from shame, but Baba is offended by shame.
Eugene
Eugene is the man that Kate picks to make her dreams come true. She is obsessed with falling in love, so when she finds someone who will let her be romantic, she easily fools herself into believing that he feels deeply and romantically about her, but he doesn't. He is clearly entertaining the relationship, nothing more. When Kate finally pushes the issue, he is happy to break up, seeing that the relationship has run its course. Kate is dismayed.
