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Lara Kenison / Lara Nelson
The protagonist and narrator of the novel. Lara tells a highly editorialized version of her past to her daughters when they press her for information about her brief acting career and her relationship with the married actor Peter Duke. She is married to Joe Nelson, and lives and works on their farm Three Sisters Orchards in Michigan.
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Joe Nelson
Lara’s husband and the father of her three daughters. In the present day he’s a cherry farmer, but when he and Lara first meet, he is directing the production of Our Town in which she starred. Joe eventually gives up a successful career in the theater to have a quiet life in Michigan, taking over his aunt and uncle’s ownership of the Nelson family property, Three Sisters Orchards.
Peter Duke
A formerly famous, now-notorious actor, and Lara’s ex-lover. Lara had a romantic relationship with Duke during the late 80s at a summer theater company. Duke is an alcoholic with mental illness issues. He’s charming and loving, but fails to commit to anyone or anything apart from himself.
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Emily Nelson
Lara’s 26-year-old eldest daughter. She is responsible and career-driven as an adult, but has a noticeably feisty streak and a hot temper. She was a moody, angry teenager, who was also a huge Peter Duke fan. Emily sees her future as being set, as she plans on taking over Three Sisters Orchards with her boyfriend Benny, who lives with his family on the neighboring farm.
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Maisie Nelson
Lara’s 24-year-old middle daughter. Maisie is a vet-in-training, whose practical demeanor and stubbornness often put her at odds with her sisters. She feels strangled by being trapped on the farm during the pandemic, which interrupts her time at college.
Nell Nelson
Lara’s youngest daughter. Nell is clever, dreamy, and fragile. She wants to be an actress, like Lara was. She has a penchant for reading plays in her bedroom because she can’t pursue her career during lockdown. Nell is the daughter who’s most like Lara, and she leads the charge in probing Lara about Peter Duke.
Sebastian Duke
Peter Duke’s sensible, handsome tennis pro brother. Lara meets him at Tom Lake, where he dates Pallace before and during her affair with Duke. He visits Lara and Peter in Michigan, returning to Three Sisters Orchards to fulfill Duke’s final wishes.
Bill Ripley
The movie director who sees Lara in Our Town at the University of New Hampshire and casts her in a movie, causing her to meet Peter Duke. Ripley sticks around for Lara’s entire career as an actress, but they lose touch after she leaves the business.
Pallace
A young, beautiful Black actress who works with Lara, Duke, and Joe on the Tom Lake summer stock productions. She’s Lara’s understudy at first, but when Lara injures her Achilles tendon, she takes over her roles in both Our Town and Fool for Love. Pallace also begins the summer dating Sebastian, but has an affair with Duke.
Nell Kenison
Lara’s grandmother, a seamstress who taught her to sew. Lara returns to live with Nell in New Hampshire after she leaves Tom Lake, where she nurses Nell until Nell dies from breast cancer.
Benny Holzapfel
Emily’s boyfriend and former neighbor. Benny and Emily live together, next door to Lara and Joe’s farm. They have been dating since they were teens, and plan to marry.
Veronica
Lara’s friend from high school, with whom she starts off working backstage on the first New Hampshire production of Our Town.
Jimmy Haywood
A math teacher who has an affair with Veronica and later with Lara. He plays George in the first New Hampshire production of Our Town.
Maisie and Ken Nelson
Joe’s aunt and uncle who originally own the cherry farm. Joe contributes to the farm financially, and Maisie and Ken give it to him when they retire to Arizona.
Alfred Long
The famous actor who plays the role of the Stage Manager in Our Town. Alfred is kind and very talented, and is also an alcoholic in the end stages of the disease.
Kurt and Gretel Holzapfel
Benny’s parents, next-door-neighbors to the Nelsons.
Cody
The director of Fool for Love, who allows Duke and the cast to drink onstage and in rehearsals.
Cat
The seamstress of the Tom Lake productions, who later gets Lara a job in New York.
Mr. Martin
The director of the first (New Hampshire) production of Our Town.
