Tara Marconi

Tara is the novel's protagonist. Her father is Urbano. Her mother is Serena, and her boyfriend is Connor. Tara is eighteen when she goes to Alaska in search of her identity. Her mother has recently died, and her father believes that Tara is somehow responsible. More importantly, Tara believes that she is responsible, too. This leads to her Alaskan journey.

When Tara leaves for Alaska, she is carrying a secret with her that causes her to behave in ways that her now deceased mother did not understand. Tara's secret is that when she was sixteen, she had been raped. The rape heightened Tara's already rebellious, teenage nature and caused much of her behavior.

As Connor describes her, she is headstrong and independent. She is also spoiled, but not because she is not used to working hard. She is spoiled in the sense that she thinks that she...