Minor Characters
Georgina
Susanna’s roommate. A kind, good friend whose concern and empathy for her fellow patients is her chief characteristic.
Cynthia
A patient on the psychiatric ward who is undergoing electroshock therapy.
Valerie
The head nurse on the psych ward. She is strict but empathetic, and the girls on the ward all respect her deeply.
Dr. Wick
One of the psychiatrists at McLean. Originally from Rhodesia, she knows little about American culture and flushes at any mention of love or sex. Susanna thinks she is a profoundly poor fit for a ward dedicated to the treatment of mentally ill adolescent girls.
Mrs. McWeeney
The night nurse on the ward. The girls all hate Mrs. McWeeney and think she is crazy. She often makes strange, mean faces at the patients and withholds their medication from them.
Melvin
Susanna’s analyst and a therapist at McLean.
Jim
A friend of Susanna’s father’s who comes to visit her during her first weeks at McLean. He offers to break Susanna out and help her escape to England, but Susanna denies his proposition, knowing she needs to stay at McLean and work on getting better.
Johnny
Susanna’s boyfriend at the time of her admission to McLean. After Susanna is caught performing oral sex on Johnny on one of his visits to McLean, their visits are required to be supervised, and soon after that Johnny stops coming to visit Susanna entirely.
English Teacher
Susanna’s high school English teacher, with whom she has an affair some time before being admitted to McLean. He brings her to the Getty Museum, where she first encounters the Vermeer painting after which the book is titled.