the 40-something abstemious and priggish narrator; he returns to the family home for the funeral of his domineering mother. Coming from a family of artists, Edmund is an engraver....
Edmund Narraways hard-drinking, womanizing brother, elder by two years; a stone mason, he has taken on a series of apprentices over the yearsmore...
the ruthless, domineering mother of Otto and Edmund...
the long-suffering, plaintive Scottish-born wife of Otto Narraway...
the pretty 16-year-old red-headed daughter of Otto and Isabel Narraway; to his horror, Edmund finds himself noticing how attractive she is...
a 20-something apprentice to Otto Narraway; he is a Russian Jew...
David Levkins promiscuous sistermore...
Brought to England to be a nursemaid for Otto and Edmund when they were children, she is only slightly older. She later took care of Flora Narraway, but Maggie has remained, long after the need for her is over....
the famous artist father, much more talented than his sons, Otto and Edmund; he died long ago...