| John | Alderman | Plantation overseer. |
| Abraham | Arceneaux | Small boy who tends to the horse. |
| Adele | Arceneaux | Clement’s wife. |
| Aimee | Arceneaux | Narrator’s great-great grandmother. |
| Antoine, Guillaume, Etienne, Olivier, René, and Xavier | Arceneaux | Bosa’s sons. |
| Bosa | Arceneaux | Mulatto common-law wife of François. |
| Clement | Arceneaux | Often the spokesman of the black workers on the plantation. |
| David, Jack, Joseph, Clement, George, Henry, Frank, Oliver, Peter, Isham, Joe, Ned, Eddo, Ben, Landon, Bob, Abraham, Chester, and Tom | Arceneaux | Bosa’s grandsons. |
| François | Arceneaux | Narrator’s great-great grandfather; builder of the house. |
| Hortense | Arceneaux | Narrator’s aunt who wills her the house. |
| Isabelle (Miss Izzy) | Arceneaux | Vincent’s daughter. |
| Joe | Arceneaux | Abraham’s father. |
| Jules | Arceneaux | Plantation employee who helps restore the house. |
| Louis | Arceneaux | Narrator’s father. |
| Oscar | Arceneaux | Plantation employee who helps restore the house. |
| Philippe | Arceneaux | Great grandson of Vincent. |
| Prosper | Arceneaux | Plantation employee who helps restore the house. |
| Sam, Charles, Jinsey, Will, Isaac, Prosper, Oscar, Jack, Thomas, Bartley, Simon, Jules, and Abraham | Arceneaux | Bosa’s great grandsons. |
| Stephanie | Arceneaux | Wife of Philippe. |
| Vincent | Arceneaux | Brother to François. |
| Theodore | Baryon | Accountant at property management office. |
| Mr. | Blanchette | Bank manager of new bank in New Orleans. |
| Albert | Carpantier | Adele’s brother; general store owner. |
| Eugenie | Carpantier | Adele’s mother. |
| Sarah | Carpantier | Adele’s youngest sister. |
| Tempest (Miss Tempy) | Carpantier | Adele’s grandmother. |
| Mr. | Collins | Bank manager in New York. |
| Isadora | Desbois | Friend of Justine and Annabelle. |
| Nathalie | Desbois | Friend of Justine and Annabelle. |
| André | Ferdinand | Son of Laurent. |
| Annabelle | Ferdinand | Daughter of Laurent. |
| Justine | Ferdinand | Daughter of Laurent. |
| Laurent | Ferdinand | Owner of neighboring plantation. |
| Armand | Grenot | Owner of the property management company. |
| Heloise | Hermes | Friend of Justine and Annabelle. |
| Mr. | Johnson | Headmaster. |
| Belva Ann | Lockwood | Female presidential candidate in 1884. |
| Caroline | Merrick | Asylum board member. |
| Mr. | Oger | Bank manager in New Orleans. |
| Elizabeth | Saxon | First woman in Louisiana to address a public body; spoke at the Louisiana Constitutional Convention’s Committee on Suffrage. |
| William | Tweed | New York City businessman convicted of fleecing the city of millions during several projects. |