Uncle Johnny
A true daughter of Peter [Vera Petrovna]
A spectral presence, she died ten years before the action takes place.
John Peter Vinnicombe [Ivan Petrovich Voinitskii]
Her brother.
Sophie Silversmith (Sunny) [Sofya Aleksandrevna (Sonya)]
Her daughter.
Lady Marie Vinnicombe [Mariya Vasilyevna Voinitskaya]
Her mother.
Sir Alexander Silversmith [Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov]
Professor emeritus, her widower.
Helen Silversmith [Yelena Andreyevna]
A young friend, now her husband's second wife, aged 27 years.
Michael Ludwig Astor [Mikhail Lvovich Astrov]
Her family physician, now a consultant surgeon.
Marina Timothy-Ivana (Nanny) [Marina Timofeyevna]
Her family's old nanny.
Eli Enoch Farm-Carter (Crumbly) [Ilya Ilyich Telyegin (Vaflya)]
Former owner of her estate, still living there as a dependent.
A servant, a nightwatchman and his dog.
The action takes place on the Silversmith estate
in Devon, England, in the Spring and Autumn of 1996.