Petronella “Nella” Elisabeth Oortman

Nella is a young woman from Assendelft, a pastoral area of the Netherlands. Soon after her 18th birthday, Nella is married to Johannes Brandt and sent to live with him in Amsterdam. She is an idealistic young woman, who has concrete ideas of what she wants her future to look like: a romantic marriage full of love and children and a traditional role as a wife.

As the novel progresses, Nella must reevaluate her idea of what it means to be both a wife and a woman, as her expectations of these things are completely altered by the nontraditional Brandt family. She gradually realizes her power as an individual and develops a sense of purpose that extends beyond servitude to her husband.

Marin Brandt

Marin Brandt, in her early 30s, is Johannes’s sister. She is a strict and terse woman who values piety and...