Patricia Wiley
Patricia is an elderly woman at the present moment of the novel. She is unhappily married to Richard and has been having an affair with John Ford for thirty years. She had one stillborn daughter many years ago, but her greatest love was the boy Looksmart, a child who was born to a farmworker and came to feel like a child of her own. After Looksmart left the farm abruptly, Patricia concentrated on raising horses. Now, she is preparing to leave Dwaleni, having sold it off to developers, and is ready to spend her last years living by the sea. She is a complicated character: compassionate, insightful, with major blind spots due to her race and privilege. She spends a lot of time in her head thinking about the past, and Looksmart's visit challenges her to interrogate her own putatively "true" memories.
Richard Wiley
Patricia's husband and the owner of the Dwaleni property (due to his marriage to Patricia, who inherited Dwaleni and Durban from her father). Richard came to Dwaleni many years back to work as the property manager for Patricia's father. He was sexy, roguish, sly, and brash, and he and Patricia soon began seeing each other. In the present moment of the novel, the elderly Richard is suffering from dementia, but his real character traits show through nonetheless: he is bigoted, lazy, unfaithful, selfish, petulant, and, as the events of the novel reveal, a murderer due to his desire to silence/punish Grace, a woman whom he paid for sex and who refused to abort the child conceived as a result.
Beauty
Beauty is a young black woman who grew up on the Dwaleni farm and now works as a housemaid and caregiver for Patricia and Richard. She is a sweet, helpful, conscientious, and loyal person; she is unmarried and plans to remain that way, but she is deeply in love with Bheki. Though she is moving to Durban with her employers, her greatest dream is to have a house of her own. As the novel progresses, we also learn Beauty has kept many secrets over the years—not to cause trouble, but because such secrets are painful, confusing, complex, and, in her opinion, better left alone.
Bheki
A black South African man, Bheki is middle-aged, private, and gruff in demeanor. He is the Wileys' driver and general farm handyman. He is a good employee but does not particularly care for Patricia and Richard. All of his energies go towards his special-needs son, and when Looksmart offers him a job if he stays on the farm instead of moving to Durban, he takes it, hoping his son will have a better future.
Looksmart
An early-middle-aged black South African man who is a successful Johannesburg real estate developer with a wife and two daughters. Looksmart was born to a farm worker on the Dwaleni property and grew up under the loving and watchful eye of Patricia, who viewed him as a son. He is clever, sharp, easily offended, and derisive. As a young man, he was grateful for the opportunity to be educated at the local school, but he chafed under John Ford's rude tutelage. He grew more disillusioned with his life on the farm and, after the incident with Grace and the dog, left Dwaleni. When we meet him in the present moment, he is simmering with rage against Patricia and Richard (mostly the former), looking to force her to reckon with her complicity in past events. He is touchy and sneering, at times confident and at times confused. His latent and reluctant love for Patricia despite the complicated history between them finally manifests itself.
Rachel
The Wileys' daughter, who died the day she was born.
Grace
We only see Grace in the memories of Looksmart, Patricia, and Beauty. She was Beauty's sister and was quite pretty. She worked on the Wiley farm; Looksmart was in love with her and hoped to marry her. Beauty reveals that Grace often slept with Richard for money, trying to survive because she had nothing, and was carrying his child. When Richard learned she was not going to give up the child because it was against her religion, he set his dog on her and she was killed.
Bongani
Bheki's young son, who has no hearing and is seen as special, or even cursed.
Phume
Bongani's mother. Beauty views her as a little strange and off-putting with her comments about spirits.
Mrs. Bell (Janet)
John Ford's secretary. Though she knew about John and Patricia and John trusted her, Patricia never knew her well. At John's house after his suicide, Patricia finds her a little malicious and judgmental.
