Nombeko

Nombeko is a highly intelligent, resourceful black South African woman. She was born into poverty, into low expectations, and into near orphanhood. However, by the end of the story she has managed to outwit and outclass everybody she meets, not by cruelty or violence, but by being clever and thorough. And although she is the smartest character in the novel, she remembers her origins and is never patronizing or mean to the people she lives with. And although she was raised with no semblance of family, the people in the story become family to her, and she intrinsically understands how to treat them as such.

Holger Two

Holger Two is the second, unnamed, twin to Ingmar and Henrietta Qvist. Raised by his father to become a violent revolutionary and take down the monarchy, he sees the flaws in his father's teaching and instead wishes throughout the novel to...