Ruth

Ruth is the main character in the novel, and the diary is written from her perspective. She is 30 years old when the novel begins, and recently broke up with her unfaithful fiancé, Joel. Ruth works at a hospital taking ultrasounds before she eventually quits her job to move to her parents' house to help take care of her father. Ruth's diary is full of quirky thoughts and emotional stress.

Once she moves in with her parents, she takes on the role of woman of the house when her mother, Annie, refuses to cook anymore. Ruth later unexpectedly finds out about her parents' separation when she finds their divorce papers in a drawer. Ruth knows that her father was unfaithful, but is still reluctant to choose sides and ruin her perfect image of her father. In an effort to cheer her father up after he got fired from his...