The book’s protagonist is Evvie, which rhymes with “Chevy” and is short for the city of Eveleth in Minnesota where Evvie’s mother Eileen was born. Evvie’s father Frank, a lobster fisherman in coastal Maine, raised Evvie after her mother deserted them when Evvie was eight. She is exceedingly bright, and people say she is attractive. Evvie is an excellent transcriber who types out data sent to her from various sources. She has lived her entire life in tiny, coastal Calcasset, Maine. Like virtually every other character in the book, the author gives little descriptive information about Evvie, apart from the fact that she thinks her legs look like tree trunks. The author does describe Evvie’s personal issues: she suffers from repressed emotions and does not feel free to express herself. As a result, no one really knows Evvie.

Evvie is a young widow who is probably in her early 30s. She was married to Tim Drake, her high school sweetheart. She followed him to college and waited for him while he was in medical school. Tim was the driving force in the relationship, making virtually all the significant choices; for instance, Evvie lives in the large two-story house Tim picked out.