Sylvia | Boorstein | A Buddhist teacher. Dani's friend. |
Pema | Chodron | A Buddhist teacher and writer. |
Dr. Alan | DeCherney | The doctor Dani made a phone date with. |
Luke | Dittrich | A journalist. Dani's acquaintance. |
Edmond | Farris | The director of the Institute of Parenthood. An anatomist. |
Leonard | Hayflick | A Professor of Anatomy. |
Allen | Holloway | A lawyer from Chicago. |
Bethany | Hort-Thomas | Dani's mysterious first cousin. |
Wendy | Kramer | The creator of The Donor of Sibling Registry. |
Mrs. | Kushner | Kushner's mother. |
Haskel | Lookstein | An American Rabbi. |
Ramana | Maharshi | The 20th century Indian sage. |
Jennifer | Mendelsohn | Jennifer's brother. Dani's friend. |
Debbie | Millman | An Artist. |
Vladimir | Nabokov | A Russian Novelist. |
Thomas | Reid | 19th century philosopher. |
Cappy | Rothman | California Cryobank's founder. |
Josef | Schneider | Children's photographer. |
Beatrice | Shapiro | Joseph's wife. Dani Shapiro's granddaughter. |
Dani | Shapiro | Protagonist. Narrator. Author. |
Irene | Shapiro | Paul's wife. Dani's mother. |
Jacob | Shapiro | Dani and Michael's son. |
Joseph | Shapiro | Dani's grandfather. The leader of modern orthodoxy. |
Paul | Shapiro | Dani's father. |
Susie | Shapiro | Dani's half-sister. |
Joseph | Soloveitchik | An American Rabbi. |
Barry | Stevens | A Canadian filmmaker. |
Mark | Strand | An American Poet. |
Adam | Thomas | Bethany's husband. Dani's first cousin. |
Kaycee | Thomas | Adam and Bethany's daughter. |
Alice | Walden | Benjamin's mother. Dani's biological grandmother. |
Benjamin | Walden | Dani's biological father. Adam's uncle. |
Emily | Walden | Dani's half-sister. |
Pilar | Walden | Benjamin's wife. |
Eloise | Walden-Thomas | Adam's mother. |
Doctor | Woo | Dani's tattoo artist. |
Charlotte | | Beatrice's friend. |
Dorothy | | Paul's ex-wife. |
Joanne | | Dani's cousin. |
Kushner | | Paul's friend. |
Michael | | Dani's husband. |
Moe | | Dani's uncle. |
Shirley | | Dani's 92-year-old aunt. |