Affectionately known as Nessa, Vanessa MacLeod narrates the story from a reflective vantage point. She presents as a complex, round character whose initial perceptions of those around her are deeply colored by her subjective childhood memories.

Vanessa is portrayed in the present day as a 40-year-old woman, but the stories are told through her memories at various stages in her childhood. Her Scottish and Irish ancestry and her family’s middle-class status during the Depression—thanks to the financial stability provided by her grandfather—shaped her early life experiences. Described as having black hair and a quiet demeanor, Vanessa is an observer and a listener. She loves her father deeply and yearns to impress him, but she dislikes Grandfather Connor and Grandmother MacLeod. She often escapes into writing fantastical, romantic stories, and she reads extensively, though she becomes disillusioned with her stories when they become too real. Her best friend, Mavis, is a key companion.

As a child, Vanessa struggles with the limitations of her youthful understanding. She often misinterprets the actions and intentions of her family members due to a lack of context, which leads to a series of revelations that push her further into emotional turmoil: “For years I had wanted to be older so I might talk with him, but now I felt unready” (150).