Maud Martha Brown

Maud Martha Brown is the protagonist of the thirty-four vignettes in the book. She likes candy buttons, books, and dandelions. Her greatest desire in life is to be cherished and accepted. Despite facing many difficulties—financial stress, racism, and being compared to her sister—her hope persists.

Helen Brown

Helen Brown is Maud Martha's sister who revels in her lighter skin. Helen is two years Maud's senior. She is described as very pretty, dainty, and accomplished. Helen is extremely popular with the boys. Maud often envies the attention Helen receives from everyone, from their parents to would-be suitors. Despite her beauty, however, Helen is shallow, vain, and snobbish. She harbors contempt for Maud because Maud has a difficult time getting a boyfriend.

Harry Brown

Harry Brown is Maud Martha's only brother. Toward the end of the story, Harry returns from war.

Abraham Brown

Abraham Brown is Maud Martha's father. He is a janitor. It has always been Maud's private grief that Abraham prefers Helen to her. For his part, Abraham thinks of Helen as the perfect daughter.

Belva Brown

Belva Brown is Maud Martha's mother, with whom she has a complex relationship. At one point, she tries to reassure Maud Martha of her value, yet can only say that she is “wonderful” and makes the best hot chocolate.

Ernestine Brown

Ernestine Brown is Maud, Harry, and Helen's grandmother. In the chapter titled "Death of Grandmother," Maud relates the terrible suffering Ernestine endures in the last moments of her life.

Uncle Tim

Tim is Maud Martha's uncle. Tim was married to Maud's paternal aunt, Nannie. In the chapter titled "Tim," Maud laments that she never really knew her Uncle Tim. In life, she knew only superficial facts about him. After Uncle Tim's death, Maud wonders if one can ever really know another person. She also wonders what the impact of a person’s life is, and how this can be measured.

Russell

Russell is Maud Martha's first suitor. He is good-looking, pleasant, and fun to be around.

Paul Phillips

Paul Phillips is Maud Martha's husband. He is described in the chapter "Low Yellow." In that chapter, Maud reveals that Paul would never describe her as "pretty." To a man like Paul, "pretty" would be "a little cream-colored thing with curly hair" or a "little curly-haired thing the color of cocoa with a lot of milk in it." Paul does not consider himself a handsome man, proclaiming that he has "real Negro features." Maud describes Paul as a man who enjoys a glittering lifestyle, "beautiful yellow girls," natural hair, nice clothes, and cars.

Mrs. Cray

Mrs. Cray is Maud Martha's neighbor. She attends Maud when she gives birth to Paulette.

Paulette Phillips

Paulette is Maud and Paul's daughter. She visits Santa Claus one Christmas and the man treats her poorly because she is Black; Paulette is old enough to detect the difference in the response the white children received.

Oberto

Oberto is one of Maud Martha's neighbors. Oberto owns a grocery store. He is married to Marie, a woman who is focused on her looks. In the chapter "Kitchenette Folks," the elegant Marie is contrasted with Viota, Nathalia, and Wilma, homely women who excel at homemaking but fall short in capturing the attention of their husbands.

Eugena Banks

Eugena is Maud Martha's white neighbor who is married to a West Indian man.

Clement Lewy

Clement is a little boy who lives in Maud's building. Other neighbors of Maud Martha include the following: Richard (a truck driver), Binnie (a young man of twenty), Mrs. Teenie Thompson (a former housemaid), Mr. and Mrs. Whitestripe (a happily married couple), Maryginia Washington (an almost seventy-year-old spinster), and Josephine Snow (a woman of means).

Sonia Johnson

Sonia is the proprietor of a salon Maud frequents. Sonia does not object when Miss Ingram, a saleswoman, uses a racial epithet during their interaction.

Mrs. Burns-Cooper

Mrs. Burns-Cooper is a white woman who hires Maud Martha as a maid. Maud eventually leaves Mrs. Burns-Cooper's employ.