The primary protagonist of The Drowning Woman is Lee. While Hazel functions as a secondary protagonist and both women are point-of-view characters, the novel characterizes Lee in slightly more detail, and the first section is from her perspective. A complex character, Lee has varied motivations and internal conflicts. She’s a former restauranteur who went bankrupt after COVID-19’s effect on business at her New York City restaurant, the Aviary. Her identity was closely tied to her restaurant, which she describes as “[her] passion, [her] true love, [her] social life, [her] family” (40), and she feels lost without it. Her accepting investment money from Damon, a criminal, shows that she prioritized her dream over her reservations about him. Throughout most of the novel, Lee lives in her Toyota Corolla. She often reflects on how she viewed unhoused people with ambivalence before becoming one and now empathizes with those in similar situations. She’s likewise empathetic with Hazel. Though she’s initially surprised that someone so privileged could be so unhappy, Lee quickly begins to feel sympathy for Hazel’s situation and the abuse she’s suffering.

Lee was formerly close to her parents and sister, Teresa, but is estranged from them at the beginning of the novel.