In many of Godden's works, two or three well-developed characters carry the story. In Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy, Godden creates several well-rounded characters: Lise, Patrice, Vivi, Lucette, and Luigi. Emile, Patrice's brother and partner, is shadowy. While not major characters, the matrons at the prison are delineated sympathetically: They emerge as strong, kindly women who, for example, take every precaution as Lise leaves at the end of her prison term to safeguard her against Vivi's revenge.

The nuns at Bethanie, while suffering under the anonymity of sisters in general, still emerge as real, vital, helpful religious women. There is a piquancy about the origin of their coming to Bethanie. No one except the Superior knows the origin of each sister. The nuns are left to wonder who among them come from distinguished families and who are former convicts. The community of Bethanie emerges in the novel...