Charlie is a 19-year-old pregnant American from a wealthy family. She’s blond, petite, and skinny. Unlike all the other girls at school, Charlie is a math whiz who isn’t interested in getting married. On the way to an abortion appointment in Switzerland, Charlie defies her mother by declaring she will keep the baby. Then she goes in search of Evelyn Gardiner, who might help her find her lost cousin Rose.

Charlie feels like a failure because she’s disgraced her parents and was unable to prevent her brother from committing suicide. She believes she can redeem herself by finding Rose. In allying herself with Eve and Finn, Charlie discovers an inner strength and resourcefulness she never knew she possessed. By the end of the novel, she saves not only Eve and Finn but also herself.

At the beginning of the story, Eve is a gun-wielding crone with crippled hands who drinks too much and suffers from traumatic nightmares. Through flashbacks, the reader learns about Eve’s experiences as a spy during World War I. She is recruited by Captain Cameron because she can hide her thoughts, lies easily, and possesses a stutter, which makes her seem simple-minded.

She is sent to Lille and given the name Marguerite Le François.