The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Dana is a black woman from 1979 California who gets pulled back in time to Antebellum Maryland to save the life of her white ancestor, Rufus Weylin… (read full character analysis)
Dana’s husband, a white man with eerily pale eyes. Kevin, like Dana, is a writer, and the two bond over their feelings of isolation and detachment from the other people in their machinery office… (read full character analysis)
A white, red-headed slave owner in Antebellum Maryland, and Dana’s ancestor. Rufus is a product of his time and culture, becoming harsher, more selfish, and crueler as the years go by and he is… (read full character analysis)
Though born a free black woman, Alice becomes a slave of the Weylin estate after the arrest of her first husband, Isaac Jackson. Rufus retains an obsessive love for Alice since childhood and forces… (read full character analysis)
Rufus’ father. Tom is a harsh master to his slaves, but Dana notes that Tom is not an entirely cruel man. Tom does what he thinks is right for a man of his standing… (read full character analysis)
Tom Weylin’s wife and Rufus’s mother, a hysterical and high-strung woman who relieves her boredom and sense of uselessness by making the lives of her house slaves miserable. She particularly hates Dana due… (read full character analysis)
A slave on the Weylin estate, Nigel is the personal servant to Rufus and enjoys some of the advantages of living close to white people. Nigel does what he wishes despite the threat of whippings… (read full character analysis)
A slave on the Weylin estate, Carrie is Sarah’s daughter and the only child Sarah has left (as the others have been sold). Carrie is deaf and mute, but finds other ways to assert… (read full character analysis)
Alice and Rufus’s youngest child, and Dana’s great-grandmother.
A field hand at the Weylin Estate who is sold by Rufus after Sam expresses an interest in Dana.
Alice’s husband, who is tortured and sold into slavery in Mississippi when he and Alice are caught trying to run away.
A slave on the Weylin Estate, and Nigel’s father.
A slave of the Weylin estate, who is sexually abused by Tom Weylin.
A cousin of Rufus Weylin, who works as the overseer on the estate and is harsh and cruel to the slaves.
A slave on the Weylin estate who betrays Dana to try to ensure her own safety. Liza is then ostracized by the other slaves, which shows the loyalty of the slave family on the plantation.
Joseph (Joe) Weylin
The young son of Rufus and Alice, who looks like a darker version of Rufus.
The overseer that takes over from Jake Edwards. Evan is even crueler to the slaves than Jake was, wielding the whip with absolutely no regard for the slaves’ humanity.
The infant son of Nigel and Carrie, born into slavery.
A slave on the Weylin plantation who used to know healing and herbs, but now is old and has lost her memory.
A worker at Dana’s temp agency who is prejudiced against Kevin and Dana’s interracial relationship.