Isaiah
Sold to the Halifaxes as a child, Isaiah is a teenage boy enslaved to work on a plantation in Mississippi. He remembers little of his parents beyond the memory of arriving at Empty as a child, carried by an older man. Isaiah takes care of the farm animals and sleeps in a barn with Samuel at night. Despite their oppressive circumstances, Isaiah and Samuel fall in love over the course of their time at Empty. Tensions peak when their love clashes with Massa Paul’s desire for them to reproduce with the female slaves.
Samuel
Samuel’s earliest memory is of being born on Empty, though he has no memory of his mother and father. Samuel met Isaiah when he arrived at Empty as a child, and the two grow up to be intimately and passionately close. Expressing thoughts of anger and rebellion against the slave masters, Samuel is hardened and jaded regarding the future. In the final chapters, it is revealed that Samuel is Maggie’s youngest child, to whom she did not want to grow attached.
Maggie
One of the central female characters of the novel, Maggie is the main housekeeper and chef for the Big House, where the plantation owners Paul, Ruth, and Timothy live. She was originally hired as a companion for Ruth, and is put to work as a wet nurse when Ruth gives birth to a girl. She has keen senses and near-mystical intuition, as Maggie sees what Amos is doing to Samuel and Isaiah before anyone else does.
Paul Halifax
Paul Halifax is the owner of the plantation known as Empty by the people it has enslaved. Having grown up comfortably, Paul’s vision is to expand Empty to greater heights of wealth and luxury through slave labor. When his plan to produce more slaves through Samuel and Isaiah fails, Paul takes matters into his own hands.
Essie
One of the younger female slaves on the plantation, Essie has a striking singing voice and an infant named Solomon, who was forcibly fathered by Paul after previous attempts with Isaiah failed. Essie is the victim of Paul’s multiple desires: to produce new slaves, to satisfy his own lust, and to enact cruelty on the slaves that he sees as subhuman.
Amos
Amos is Essie’s lover and the spiritual leader of the slaves on the plantation. Desperate to put a stop to Paul’s assaults on Essie, Amos forms a plan to create a bond that Paul will respect: Christian marriage. He takes on the role of preacher to the rest of the slaves, eventually turning public opinion against Samuel and Isaiah’s unorthodox relationship in a bid for better living conditions.
Puah
Raised by Be Auntie in the absence of her own parents, Puah is a young teenage girl around the age of 15. She is beginning to understand the vulnerabilities of her position as a young enslaved girl, and has feelings for Samuel, who she feels is the only man who genuinely cares about her opinions.
Ruth
Ruth is the wife of Paul Halifax and the mistress of Empty. She is described as pale, with red hair and green eyes. Ruth lays various ‘traps’ for the slaves who work for her, including Maggie and Adam, whom she dislikes for his illegitimate relation to Paul. She has had difficulties bearing children, and Timothy is her lone surviving child.
James
James is Paul’s cousin and the main overseer of the slave plantation. Known for his cruelty and brutal whippings, James carries around a rifle with him everywhere he goes, even in his bed. James’s particular cruelty stems from his impoverished background as an orphan from London, his fear of an inevitable slave rebellion, and his intertwined disgust and attraction towards the slave women.
Adam
Adam is the coach driver for the Halifaxes. Quiet and unassuming, Adam is almost light-skinned enough to pass for white, but his mouth gives him away. He also shares a remarkable resemblance to Paul Halifax, the plantation owner, and it is revealed that Adam is actually Paul’s biological but illegitimate son. Named in reference to God and His creation, Adam toes the line between his conflicting identities.
Kosii and Elewa
Kosii and Elewa are male lovers and warriors in the Kosongo village. Their spirits were bonded from birth and they are wedded in a marriage ceremony just as the first Christian missionaries arrive at their village. Tragically, they are captured and brought onto the slave ships headed across the Atlantic, and Elewa dies on the passage. Devastated and determined to avenge him, Kosii jumps overboard upon arriving to America, dragging three others down with him.
