Tom ~ a fatherless son brought up by his mother: handy with his fists, a Jack the Lad and a 1940’s Charmer. After his death in the War he continues to watch over his grieving mother - and makes several unexpected appearances.
Flo ~ Tom’s lone-parent mother who battles to provide for herself and her son when poverty stalked the back streets of Britain. When he dies her anguish turns to obsession. Opportunities arise for her to escape from the pathos of her sad existence. But whether she will take one is far from certain.
Kate ~ a girl way out of Tom’s league whom he falls for at a 1936 Scout and Guide Camp in Devon. A misunderstanding leaves him heart broken but they meet again by chance years later in wartime London. This time will she be the one to suffer the heartache of lost hope?
Vera ~ the daughter of a Sussex coastguard in whose cottage Tom is billeted during the War and the eventual mother of his twin sons. In time she alone comes to recognise the full extent of Flo’s tragic life and offers her a chance to break free.
Frank ~ a Selsey fisherman who later married Vera and raises Tom’s sons.
Ray ~ Tom’s son and a mirror image of the father he never knew who eventually adopts Flo as his ‘third grandma’.
Jeffrey ~ Tom’s other son and an early enthusiast for the business use of computers who comes closest to fulfilling the role of his dead father in Flo’s life.
Connie ~ a worldly middle-aged woman who takes Flo under her wing and makes the dark days after Tom’s death just about bearable. Flo’s dearest friend.
Ada ~ Flo’s sister who does what she can to help her raise young Tom in the days before the Welfare State.
Stan ~ Ada’s husband: a police constable from west London who shows great kindness to Tom but who knows he can never be the father his nephew needs.
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