Since Kathy serves as the narrator of the novel and it is entirely composed of her experiences, all of the characters readers meet are integral to her memories. These include her childhood friends, Tommy and Ruth, as well as those she meets as she ages and moves to the Cottages.
Kathy
Kathy is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. Mainly, the story is told through her memories. She’s 31 years old at the novel’s beginning, and she is determined to make sense of her memories before becoming a donor, her inevitable fate, at the end of the year.
She spends the novel trying to recall her youth and her relationships, trying to hold onto as many of her memories of her childhood friends, Ruth and Tommy, as she can.
Kathy is a clone who is raised for the sole purpose of organ donation. She is thoughtful, observant, and introspective. She works as a carer, someone who takes care of and comforts other clones who are in the process of organ donation before she has to begin the process herself.
She proves herself to be something of an unreliable narrator throughout the book. Her perspective is subjective, and she does not always recall events in chronological order.
Tommy
Tommy is one of Kathy’s closest friends and someone who she cares about deeply. He struggles with the creative part of their youth and is often teased for his less-than-stellar attempts to create art. He has a bad temper, as well, something that he struggles to control in the novel.
He and Kathy spend a great deal of time theorizing why the school is the way it is and why there is such a focus on creativity there. They come to believe that the quality of the art a student produces has a direct connection to their future.
Ruth
Ruth is one of Kathy’s childhood friends and a fellow student at Hailsham. She grows up with Kathy and is known for her temperamental personality. She often tries to make herself seem more important than she is, claiming to know things about their fate and the rules of the donor program that no one else does.
She is in a relationship with Tommy, something that makes her relationship with Kathy more difficult as Kathy also has feelings for him. While she can be difficult to be around at times, she does have moments of genuine care for her friends.
Madame
Madame, or Marie-Claude, is a benefactor of the school. She visits every once in a while to see the students’ artwork. The students come to believe that her opinion of their art is of the utmost importance.
Miss Emily
Miss Emily is the head guardian at the school and someone the children don’t enjoy spending time around. She is stern and intelligent but also appears to struggle with her understanding of what’s going to happen to the young students in the future.
Miss Lucy
Miss Lucy is one of the women who watches over the clones at the school. She is somewhat sympathetic towards the students and believes that they should be sharing more with the children about their futures.
Miss Geraldine
She is one of the kinder guardians at the school and someone who the younger students enjoy being with. She teaches art class.
Chrissie
Chrissie is an older student who lives at the Cottages and whom Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy met when they moved there. She did not attend their school and has her own opinions about what it’s like and how those who went there might be treated differently. She forms a relationship in the hope that it will save her from the donation process.
Rodney
Rodney is a student who is living at the Cottages. He’s dating Chrissie and is a nice, calm person to be around. He also did not go to Hailsham.
Laura
Laura is another Hailsham student who lives at the Cottages with Kathy. She encourages Kathy to take care of Ruth.
Ruth’s Possible
In one part of the novel, the main characters seek out a woman who they’ve been told is Ruth’s Possible, or the woman whom Ruth was cloned after. This turns out not to be the case.
Martin
Martin is another carer who lives in Norfolk. He is friends with Rodney and Chrissie.
