Content Warning: This section references traumatic childbirth and the traumatic loss of a parent.

Lexie Sinclair is a round and dynamic character—a complex woman who fiercely guards her identity and her independence. She is the primary protagonist because everything that happens originates with her; all the other characters and their relationships are colored by her influence. Her initial introduction establishes how quick she is to anger. In particular, she can’t stand being defined by others, as evidenced by her rejection of names and nicknames assigned to her without her permission.

Innes calls Lexie is called a “firecracker” right before he dies, and that fighting spirit is clear throughout her professional and private life. The world around her both praises and punishes her passion and intelligence; she achieves success as a journalist but faces judgment as an unmarried woman and single mother. However, it is this very independence that is the source of Lexie’s drive, and she refuses to surrender it by marrying. Though committed to her own dreams, she is passionate in her personal relationships, and her love affair with Innes and his death affect her daily for her entire life. It is her identity as a mother that ultimately matters most to her, however: Her fighting spirit continues even as she drowns, geared toward getting back to her son.