NW Characters

Pauline is Leah’s mother. She came over from Ireland to England, where she met an English widower named Colin. She doesn’t always understand Leah’s life, including how to pronounce the name of Leah’s husband, Michel.

Marcia is Keisha’s mother. She often keeps a close eye on Keisha, in part because Keisha’s sister Cheryl often got in trouble. After Keisha turns into “Natalie” and becomes wealthy, she continues to feel guilty about the fact that Marcia lives in relative poverty.

Elena is Frank’s very wealthy mother, who is Italian. She approves of Natalie and helps her through the pupillage stage of her law career, but Natalie finds that getting financial help often means giving away independence.

Colin is Leah’s father, who dies when she is still relatively young. His presence continues to hang over Leah, and at one point, she even seems to hallucinate having a new conversation with him.

Ned is Leah’s upstairs neighbor who smokes a lot of weed. His character hints at how people view drug use differently based on race and class.

Olive is Leah’s dog who dies after being kicked by a young man whom Michel picks a fight with.

Tom is a white man who sells his old, broken-down “project car” to Felix. Felix and Tom find common ground, despite their very different backgrounds, but it’s also clear that Tom views Felix as a curiosity.

Cheryl is Keisha’s sister who has a habit of getting in trouble, even at a young age. As Keisha gets older and turns into Natalie, her relationship with family member like Cheryl becomes more distant.

Jayden is Keisha’s brother. He is a closeted queer man while living at home, but he begins to explore his sexuality more freely once he lives on his own.

Grace is a woman whom Felix meets at a bus stop and enters a long-term relationship with.

Naomi is Natalie’s daughter and first child. Natalie sees echoes of herself in Naomi, and this sometimes scares her.

Spike is Natalie’s son and second child. His name comes from the spike of hair on his head when he was born.

Annie is a showgirl whom Felix has been romantically involved with but whom he feels guilty about seeing now because of his new relationship with Grace.

Erik is the Norwegian man who tells Annie that she and the other tenants in her building will be responsible for paying for a renovation.

Barnesy is a neighbor of Lloyd’s who rarely speaks to him but pretends to care about Lloyd whenever Felix stops by to visit.

Adina is Leah’s coworker at an organization where they help distribute lottery money to charities and nonprofits.

Theodora is a Jamaican woman with a distinguished academic record who advises Natalie that people view her differently because she’s a woman.