Riley MacPherson

Riley is a young woman who had a basic happy childhood, but rapidly lost her mother and her father within seven years of each other. In addition to this, her family life holds the ghost of her sister Lisa who committed suicide when she was young; her remaining family, her brother Danny, keeps her at arm's length.

Riley's longing for family and belonging is her defining characteristic. She didn't grow up as an orphan, yet her adult years are characterized by this void and loneliness. After her father's death the void grows wide and yawning, and her rapid discoveries about Lisa make it worse before it's better.

As a character, Riley is quick to criticize and quick to get her feelings hurt. Her brother, who has PTSD from a term in Iraq, is probably incapable of forming close attachments, and yet Riley pressures him to revert to...